


Alea Iacta Est

by Emerald_Time



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gray Harry, Horcruxes, Independent Harry, M/M, Manipulative Dumbledore, Powerful Harry, Sane Voldemort, Semi-Ron Bashing, Smart Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-21
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-02-05 13:27:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 73,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1820089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emerald_Time/pseuds/Emerald_Time
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Questions are the basis of all curiosity and it takes only one to start many more. A few changes in the years leading up to fourth year make a lot of difference. He starts questioning Dumbledore and the circumstances surrounding the events in his first three years. He seeks advice, reluctantly, from an unconventional source and finds that things are not as they seem. In fourth year, well, let's just say, Harry's not happy with the lack of answers. Dumbledore has rolled the die. Now, it's Harry's turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alea Iacta Est Latin for "The Die Has Been Cast" 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I have, and most likely will, use some parts of the books/movies in this story, but most parts are not accurate. This is a figment of my imagination with a lot of help from J.K. Rowling. As this is not her own written work, they are not a part of the official Harry Potter Universe. Please don't sue me.
> 
> Warning: The saying "the path to hell is paved with good intentions" will apply to Dumbledore in every possible way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alea Iacta Est: Latin for "The Die Has Been Cast"
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I have, and most likely will, use some parts of the books/movies in this story, but most parts are not accurate. This is a figment of my imagination with a lot of help from J.K. Rowling. As this is not her own written work, they are not a part of the official Harry Potter Universe. Please don't sue me.
> 
> Warning: The saying "the path to hell is paved with good intentions" will apply to Dumbledore in every possible way.
> 
> Edited: 10/20/17

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

" **Parseltongue"**

_Harry Writing_

_Tom Writing_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

1st Year:

"Oh, honestly! Don't you two read?" Hermione scowled, "Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone. That's what the dog is guarding!"

"But why would the stone be here?" Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged, "Flamel must have given it to Dumbledore to guard."

Harry shook his head, "How old did you say Flamel was?"

"665," Hermione replied immediately.

Harry nodded, "Right, so if he has protected the stone for so long, how come he gave it to Dumbledore to protect the stone,  _now_? This probably isn't the first time someone has decided to steal a stone that will make you immortal, not to mention give you immeasurable wealth, don't you think it's a little weird?"

Hermione nodded, "It is, but perhaps someone was getting really close this time, and Flamel got scared?"

Harry, unconvinced, opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off.

"Guys, this means that Snape is really close to getting the stone," Ron interrupted, bringing them back on track.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry lay in a soft bed inside the Hospital Wing; Dumbledore had just left, leaving many questions unanswered, as well as forming new ones.

He closed his eyes, a frown overcoming his pale face. Ron, Hermione, and he had gotten to the stone; yet, the traps were set by the teachers to keep Voldemort from getting it. However, if three first-years could get it, then it wouldn't be too hard for a Dark Lord.

Even if they were lucky, and he had to admit, Hermione was brilliant, couldn't the second-year or third-year students get to it, too? What about the seventh-years? Surely one seventh-year had more knowledge than three first-years. Especially, since two of the three didn't even know that the Wizarding World existed before the Hogwarts letter.

The first trap was Fluffy: Hagrid had given him a flute that he'd whittled himself for Christmas.

The second trap was the Devil's Snare: Devil's Snare was on the first-year curriculum for Herbology. Hermione was at the top of that class.

The third trap was the Winged Keys: He was the youngest seeker in a century.

The fourth trap was the chess set: Ron was the best at chess in all of Gryffindor.

The fifth trap was the Troll: Already taken care of by Quirrell. Not to mention they'd beaten a troll at Halloween with a first-year spell.

The sixth trap was potions and logic: Hermione was the smartest student of their year, not to mention, a muggleborn full of logic.

The last was the Mirror of Erised: Which he'd seen during Christmas break. Not to mention, Dumbledore had explained it to him, himself.

There simply could not be that many coincidences.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Here it is," Harry murmured looking through the book of magical beasts he had found in the Hogwarts Library.

 _A_ _**Cerberus** _ _, or Kerberos, is a bronze multi-headed dog, or hellhound, with a serpent's tail, a mane of snakes, and a lion's claws. It is always seen guarding the entrance to the Underworld to prevent those who entered from ever escaping. It is also said that the Cerberus' saliva can destroy the spirits in the Underworld, should a spirit come in contact with it. It can only be controlled by Hades' Whistle (read more on page 698)._

 _A_ _**Canis** _ _**Triceps** _ _is a large three-headed dog that is often mistaken for the Cerberus, although the Canis Triceps is a distant cousin of the Cerberus. While it does not guard the gates to the Underworld, it is often used for guarding valuable treasure. However, unlike the vicious Cerberus, the Canis Triceps has one weakness. It will fall asleep if music is played and will sleep until the music is stopped._

If the information was in this book, which wasn't even in the restricted section, then why did Voldemort take so long to figure it out?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

2nd Year:

"Tom Riddle?" Harry asked, bewildered, "How are you here?"

Tom watched, an interest sparking in his dark eyes. The boy did not even ask about the girl, he seemed more interested in him. For some reason, this pleased him.

"That's a little complicated, you see. I'm a little surprised that you aren't more worried about your little friend," Tom said, his eyes never leaving the younger boy before him.

Harry glanced at the prone form of Ginny Weasley, but his gaze didn't linger, instead his emerald eyes fixed on the other boy, his wand was clutched tightly in his hand.

"Considering Ginny's lying on the floor holding  _your_ diary, you had something to do with it and if that is true, then you are the threat. Who are you? You may be Tom Riddle, but there's more to you," Harry said suspiciously. He knew there was something more to this boy; he became even more wary when a smirk appeared and he tensed.

In response, Tom lifted Ginny's wand, Harry's wand flew up to point at Tom, a spell on his lips, but Tom simply raised an eyebrow dismissively and continued.

_Tom Marvolo Riddle_

He waved the wand over the letters and they rearranged themselves to form:

_I Am Lord Voldemort_

Harry gasped.

"Yes, little Harry, I am Lord Voldemort," suddenly furry clouded the violet irises, making them flash a ruby red.

"How is it, that a little baby, no more than 15 months old, defeated the most powerful wizard since Grindelwald?" He hissed as he walked forward, circling around the younger boy, who stood frozen in his spot, following him with his eyes.

Harry took a step forward, breaking the circle; he whirled around to face the teenage Dark Lord, a sneer on his lips.

"I don't know, why don't you  _tell_  me? You couldn't have been that great if you were defeated by a baby barely a year and a half old, now could you?" Harry said, his eyes glinting maliciously.

"Watch your tongue, you insolent boy!" Riddle snarled, he turned to the statue of Salazar Slytherin,  **"Speak to me! Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."**

" **Kill Harry Potter,"** Riddle commanded the giant snake, which had exited from Slytherin's mouth, a malevolent smirk playing on his lips.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry dropped the sword as he took his wand and moved to Ginny's side, he would die, but he'd take Riddle with him.

Harry pointed his wand at Ginny's chest and sent a burst of magic through it and to her heart. She jerked, but otherwise there was no other reaction.

Riddle chuckled, "Oh, little Harry, that won't do anything."

Riddle tilted his head, his eyes analyzing the scene before him, "It's amazing what a silly little book can do, especially in the hands of a silly little girl."

Harry's eyes snapped up. The book. He wrenched the fang out of his arm and quickly snatched the book before Riddle could move. In one swift downward arc, he stabbed the cover of the book. Ink squirted out like blood, splashing on his face and chest.

Holes slowly appeared all over Tom Riddle, gradually they started to grow bigger and bigger until Tom Riddle burst in to a shower of golden sparks.

Harry closed his eyes as his arm started to go numb, there was something that could save him, what was it? Tears… the tears of a phoenix were a powerful healing component, Dumbledore had told him that.

"FAWKES!" Harry shouted, a desperate edge in his voice as he started to feel dizzy.

The phoenix soared through the air, landing in front of him.

"Hey Fawkes. Will you heal me? " Harry asked. The phoenix blinked its eyes, moisture started to build, and slowly three drops, one by one, fell on Harry's arm, leaving behind a faint diamond-shaped scar.

Harry quickly held up the book, "Could I have a few more, please?"

Fawkes looked at him curiously, and trilled, as if asking, 'why?'

"I need to know, I need some answers," Harry answered, his eyes begged the phoenix, "Please? It's the only way."

Fawkes looked at him once more, before two drops landed on the cover of the still bleeding book, where the fang had pierced it. He watched as the ink flowed back inside the cover and the hole closed up, leaving a faint scar, not unlike his own, on the leather cover.

"Thank you," Harry said, his gratefulness not lost on Fawkes, as he stroked the phoenix's head. "I couldn't have done this without you, Fawkes. You were so amazing," Harry spoke softly. Fawkes trilled and butted his hand with his head. The moment was broken by a gasp.

Harry snatched the book up and hid it in his inner robe pockets. He crawled over to Ginny whose eyes had just opened.

"Ginny! Ginny, are you okay?" Harry asked.

"Harry! Oh! Harry, I'm so s-sorry! I-it wasn't my f-fault, R-Riddle made m-me," Ginny sobbed, clutching Harry's robes.

He awkwardly patted her on the back, "It's okay, he's gone, and he can't hurt you anymore. Come on, we've got to go. Ron's waiting at the entrance."

He slowly stood up with Ginny clutched to his left side; he picked up the sword of Gryffindor and the sorting hat in his right hand and with Fawkes settled on his right shoulder, they began walking towards the entrance to the chamber.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I believe, that since this is the work of Lord Voldemort, we have a grounds keeper that must be returned to our care," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling, "Mr. Weasley, if you could please send this out. It would be much appreciated."

Ron nodded, still grinning at the thought of the award he and Harry had received. He took the envelope and left.

"Harry, my dear boy, I must ask you, where is the diary that possessed Miss Weasley?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry's eyes widened in panic, "Oh! Sir! I'm so sorry! I left it in the chamber. It's just that, Ginny was crying when she woke up and then I saw the sword and the hat, then Fawkes was waiting, and I just, I forgot," he said the last word with his head down, a small blush on his cheeks.

Dumbledore smiled, "Quite alright, dear boy. As long as it can hurt no one else. You are positive that the diary is destroyed?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, I stabbed it with the basilisk fang multiple times, and all the ink that was in it, bled out."

"Good, good," Dumbledore muttered distractedly.

A moment of silence passed between them, both gazing at the blood-covered sword, gleaming in the lights of the office.

"Sir, I-" Harry cut off. What was he supposed to say?

"Yes, dear boy?"

"I," He hesitated, watching the twinkle in Dumbledore's blue eyes, then quickly changed his mind, "May I please speak to the sorting hat?"

A frown flashed across Dumbledore's face, but it was too fast for Harry to be sure.

"Of course, dear boy, here," Dumbledore stood from his chair and walked around his desk to pick up the sorting hat from the tall shelf that it had been set on.

"Thank you," Harry said, before taking the hat and plopping it on his head.

' _Hello again, Mr. Potter,' the hat's voice floated into his mind._

' _Hello, I just wanted to know, if-' Harry paused._

' _If you'd gone to the right house? If you are like Tom Riddle?' The sorting hat finished. He heard a sigh coming from the hat, 'I had warned you, that Slytherin is where you would make your true friends. I stand by my first decision. While Gryffindor is a great house, you would still do better in Slytherin. There you would have learned all you needed to know. As for Tom Riddle, you are indeed very much like him, but I must tell you, that it is our choices that make us, who we are. You have the potential to be great, remember that young Harry. All you need to do is realize it. Follow your own path, not the one that is laid out for you.'_

Harry was about to reply when a voice that was neither Dumbledore's, nor Ron's, interrupted his thoughts.

"Dumbledore," Lucius greeted coldly, he looked around and saw Harry standing to the side with the sorting hat on, "Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded and looked behind Lucius and saw none other than Dobby; his eyes widened in surprise and he couldn't help the gasp that left him, "Dobby!"

The small elf whimpered as Lucius shot it a glare.

"Ah, Lucius, my boy," Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his eyes lessening.

"I see you have returned," Lucius spoke, not even twitching at the unwanted endearment.

"Actually, the board of governors felt that my presence at the school was necessary when a student had been taken into the Chamber. Curiously, it seems that many of the governors were under the impression that, had they not agreed to suspend me in the first place, you would have made things…  _difficult_  for their families," Dumbledore said.

"How dare you," Lucius said, his voice deadly calm, "My first priority is, and always will be, the protection of the school and its students."

An unnoticeable shiver ran down Harry's spine at the tone, and it wasn't the good kind.

Dumbledore twinkled, "Well then, rest assured, the culprit has been caught."

"Is that so? Do enlighten me as to who it was," Lucius drawled.

"Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore spoke, when Lucius raised an eyebrow, he elaborated, "He manipulated a student through a childhood diary of his."

"And where, exactly, is this diary?"

Dumbledore held up a black leather book, with a hole in the middle.

Harry took off the hat, staring at the diary confused, until he saw the hole and realized that this one was a fake, because the hole had been sealed on the real diary.

"I see," Lucius said, giving one last sneer, he turned and walked out the door, Dobby following behind him.

Harry put the hat down on the Headmaster's desk, an idea suddenly forming in his mind as something clicked, like the pieces of a puzzle falling in to place.

"Sir? May I have that book?"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and handed the copy to him. Harry bent down and quickly retrieved his sock. Grabbing the fake, he ran out the door, hopping on one foot to put his shoe back on. He sped down the spiral staircase and called out just before Lucius Malfoy turned the corner.

"Mr. Malfoy!"

He turned and raised an eyebrow.

"I believe this belongs to you," Harry said, handing the book to the older man.

Lucius looked down and sneered, "I don't know what you are talking about."

Now it was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow, "In Flourish and Blotts, you bumped into Ginny Weasley and helped pick up her books, while doing so, you slipped it into her cauldron."

"What rubbish!" Lucius tossed the book to Dobby; he gracefully turned and started walking.

"Come, Dobby!"

Dobby looked up at Harry, his big green eyes glassy. Harry smiled reassuringly, "Open it," he whispered.

Dobby looked down and opened the book.

"Dobby!" Lucius Malfoy called, a dark promise in his voice.

"Master has given Dobby a sock!"

"What! I didn't-" Lucius turned and stopped, looking at the dropped book, the black sock in Dobby's hands, and finally the smirk on Harry's face.

"You! You lost me my servant, boy!" Lucius shouted before pulling out his wand.

Harry flinched when Lucius had said 'boy' which hadn't gone unnoticed by Lucius, curiosity flashed in Lucius' eyes before it was gone.

"You shall not harm Harry Potter!" Dobby squeaked.

Lucius started to open his mouth, when a flash of green light knocked him back. The older man stood up and glared at them, he swiftly turned and left. Neither Elf, nor boy saw the small smirk on the elder's face.

"Dobby! You were brilliant!" Harry exclaimed.

"Great Harry Potter sir is too kind!" Dobby said, twisting his ears, a small smile on his face. Dobby took Harry's slightly bigger hand in his own and looked up into his eyes.

"How can Dobby ever repay The Great Harry Potter sir?!" Dobby squeaked.

Harry smiled and patted the elf on the head, "Just don't try to save my life again and we'll be even."

Dobby smiled, "Yes sir, Master Harry Potter sir!"

A flash of green light once again lit up the corridor, but this time no one was thrown backwards. Harry blinked, "What was that?"

Dobby just smiled, Harry shook his head.

"Never mind, Dobby, I'll see you around, I have to take this to the Headmaster," Harry said, motioning towards the fallen book.

"Oh! Dobby can be doing that for Master Harry! Master Harry needs to be going to the hospital wing!" Dobby squeaked, picking up the book and pushing Harry towards said place.

Harry heaved a long-suffering sigh; Madam Pomfrey was going to have a fit. He felt Dobby pushing him and sighed once more, "Okay, okay, I'm going."

Dobby nodded, his ears flapping, "Good master!" and popped out.

Harry just stared at the spot the elf had been, he shook his head; then patted his robe pocket, making sure the real book was there. Days later, he would wonder how Dumbledore knew what Tom Riddle's diary looked like and why he couldn't figure out what the monster in the chamber was when three second years could?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

3rd Year:

Harry sat on his bed after locking the door to his room. It had been two days since he had blown up Marjorie Dursley, and met the Minister of Magic, who had set him up at the Leaky Cauldron.

He stared at the innocent looking black diary of one Tom Marvolo Riddle. There was a diamond-shaped scar, matching the one on his own arm, where the fang had pierced the book, but he wasn't sure if Fawkes' tears had saved it. True, it was under a minute, but he wasn't sure if that had saved it: one, because it wasn't human, and two, because he didn't know what 'it' actually was.

He didn't think it was a memory preserved in a diary, there had to be something more; a memory wouldn't try to come back to life. However, to be positive that the diary was unharmed, he had to write in it, and he was reluctant to do it. He had been putting it off ever since the summer holidays had started. He knew that in order to get answers, he would need to write in it at some point.

Harry bit his lip, what if it possessed him? But, it hadn't possessed Ginny when she first wrote in it; it had taken a few months for the book to possess her. He picked up his self-inking quill, maybe he'd just write in it really fast, and then watch the book from further away for a response. He mentally snorted, if it wanted to possess him, a few measly steps wasn't going to make a difference.

Harry took a deep breath, before opening the book to the first page, he quickly wrote.

_Hi! My name is Neville._

He quickly pushed the book away and jumped off the bed, he was standing as far as possible but he leaned slightly forward to see what would happen next. He knew he looked silly, but he'd rather not take the chance.

He held his breath as the ink disappeared, and a familiar spidery script formed on the page, however, it appeared slower than before.

_I know it's you Potter!_

Harry gaped, what the hell! How? He quickly walked over to the bed, with the quill still in his hand, and wrote:

_WOW! You can TALK…or write back? Who's Potter?_

The writing disappeared once more and in its place was Tom's spidery script.

_I know your handwriting._

Oh, that made sense, in a weird sort of way.

_Oh, just making sure you were alive._

After writing that, he quickly snapped the book shut, not waiting for a reply. He really didn't want to risk getting possessed. No matter how long Ginny had the book before it possessed her, he wasn't going to tamper with unknown magic.

Well, not yet.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry bit his lip, looking down at the form in his hands, asking which electives he wanted to take. His quill hovered over the form, all he'd have to do was check the boxes and owl it. He and Ron were going to take Divination and Care of Magical Creatures to get easy grades, they had discussed it at the end of last year, but now he was having second thoughts.

His last two years at Hogwarts had been a rude awakening for him. He had found that there was not a dark lord, but The Dark Lord, the most feared Dark Lord, even worse than Grindelwald, after him and what's more, he wasn't dead.

He caught sight of his book bag in which he'd stashed the diary two days ago. Riddle had gone to Hogwarts, he could ask him, he did have more experience, but there was still the danger of Riddle possessing him. Not to mention, he was the Dark Lord that was currently after his life, even in teenage form, he was still dangerous. Plus, he'd said that he wouldn't tamper with unknown magic.

Harry blew out a breath; throwing the forms on to his bed, he walked over to his bag and pulled out the diary from the bottom of it.

Hedwig hooted from her perch, staring at the book held in his hand.

"I know, I know, but it'll only be for a bit," Harry said, ignoring the glare he was receiving from his unusually smart owl.

Hedwig hooted again then promptly put her head under her wing and proceeded to ignore him.

He sat on his bed, pulling the forms closer and opening the book to the first page. His quill lingered over the blank page. How should he start? Would he even respond? Harry rolled his eyes, of course he'd respond, who else was Riddle going to talk to?

_Hello Tom._

_Talking to me now are you?_

_Yes, I wanted to ask you something, what electives did you take during your third year?_

There was a brief pause, before the spidery script appeared again.

_Are you asking me for advice?_

Harry scowled.

_No._

The spidery script did not appear. Harry waited for a full minute before sighing and putting quill to page.

_Yes._

_Was that so hard?_

_Yes. Now, tell me!_

_Aren't you demanding? I took Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, and Ancient Studies._

Harry frowned and looked at the forms.

_There is no mention of Ancient Studies on the form. Why is that?_

_Dumbledore probably took it off the charter when he became Headmaster. He wasn't too happy with the class when I was there, he was trying to get it cut off, but Dippet wouldn't have it. What electives are you going to take?_

Harry frowned. Ancient Studies sounded interesting… He'd have to look into that.

_I was thinking about taking Care of Magical Creatures and Divination._

_Divination is a waste of time, unless you have the gift, it's useless. It isn't a subject you can learn; on the other hand, Care of Magical Creatures is very useful._

Care of Magical Creatures… oh!

_Hey, do you know how to get past a Canis Triceps?_

_Yes, you play music to get it to fall asleep, why?_

Harry frowned, if the teenage version of Voldemort knew this, why didn't the older?

 _There was one in Hogwarts my first year._   _Are Arithmancy and Ancient Runes helpful?_

There was a slight delay at the sudden change of topic, before the handwriting once again appeared.

_Yes, if you want to create your own spells or be a curse-breaker, than you need those two subjects, they also help with warding._

Harry perked up at that. Wards? Didn't Dumbledore say that there were blood wards at the Dursley's home, at the end of first year? He had asked Dumbledore if he could stay at Hogwarts for the summer, but he'd been refused.

He hesitated, should he ask? Surely, Riddle would have a lot of knowledge, especially if he created something like the Diary when he was 16. True, it wasn't good, or it didn't look like light magic, but it was complex all the same. He decided not to.

_Thank you._

_You're welcome._

After he read the reply, he closed the book. He took the form and checked off Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures. After a bit of hesitation, he checked off Divination. He didn't want to leave out Ron.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry walked in to a shop that sold trunks; he wanted to see if there was a better one he could get. Hagrid hadn't let him get a more fancy one, stating that he didn't need it, and he'd been too busy last year with the Weasley's, Lockhart, and Knocturn Alley to go. A bell jingled in the back and he heard a female voice call out, "I'll be there in a minute!"

Harry walked around, looking at all the different trunks, the store had a different trunk along almost every space of the wall and there were also backpacks taking up a whole wall opposite the trunks; Harry fingered a black messenger bag with a blue and silver outline.

A tall, elegant woman walked out from the door behind the counter. She wore soft yellow robes that flowed around her, but were not long enough to hinder movement or get in the way of work.

She had long brown hair pulled up in to a high ponytail, lightly tanned skin, and long manicured nails.

She smiled, "Hello, my name is Hazel, how may I help you?"

Harry smiled politely, a light blush on his cheeks, "Um, I'd like to get a better trunk and bag for school. Um, could you tell me the options I have?"

Hazel smiled, inwardly squealing at the adorable little boy, "Well there are many different types, we have…"

Hazel spent about 20 minutes going over the types of trunks they had, Harry was astonished at the amount of different trunks. She explained about the standard ones, the ones with compartments, and the one with a ton of wards.

He ended up buying the black messenger bag with the green and silver outline – he had extension, feather-light, and self-repairing charms put on it, as well as a non-summoning charm – and a three-compartment trunk; it was black with a silver outline and had three clear gems on the front. He also had his initials engraved on the front, right below the gems in silver.

He had a shrinking charm put on it, so when he touched the top with his wand, it would automatically shrink or grow. He also had password and locking spells put on it, as well as muggle-repelling charms, he set the password in Parseltongue for all three compartments after he got to his room.

The first compartment opened when he put the tip of his wand to the ruby and hissed a simple, " **Open**."

It was where some of his clothes, muggle and wizarding, would go. He'd already gone shopping to get a complete muggle wardrobe; however, he would have to wait for his wizarding wardrobe to come in later from Madam Malkin's and a couple of formal dress robes from Twillfit and Tattings. He had also gone and gotten two pairs of dragon-hide boots – one in black, the other in a dark green –a pair of regular school shoes in black, and a pair of formal dress shoes, also in black. Now that he had the money, there was no reason to dress in rags.

He'd already burned Dudley's cast-offs, watching in satisfaction as the rags turned to ashes.

The second compartment opened with the sapphire and a hissed, " **Hedwig.** "

It was a library for all his books. The bookcases popped out of the trunk, and every time one was filled, it would slide to the side and disappear, leaving room for another, empty one, to fill its place. It could hold up to a thousand books; it also came with a small archive – it was about the size of Tom's journal, and was also black leather, but it had the word 'Archive' engraved in silver on the front in beautiful calligraphy – and a mini-bookcase, that when you wrote a title or a subject in said archive, then all the books containing said title or subject would appear in the mini-bookcase. The mini-bookcase would only appear if the archive was open; otherwise it would stay hidden. According to Hazel, this was the library's latest model.

He had already put in his first, second, and third-year books – discarding the Lockhart ones – as well as a few others that he'd picked up in Flourish & Blotts. He'd gotten History of the Wizarding World, Wizarding Etiquette, Wizarding Cultures, Wizarding Laws, and a couple of books on curses and jinxes as well as one of the books that he'd remembered he'd wanted in first year. He'd also gotten a Beginner's Basic Guide to Potions, a self-updating Hogwarts, A History, and 1001 Harmless Pranks. He put Tom Riddle's journal on a special bookcase that he'd had Hazel put in for masking dark artifacts and books.

She had been wary at first – actually, she had outright refused – but he'd reassured her that there was nothing illegal he was doing. She had still been reluctant, until finally he had told her his name and, of course, shown her his scar. She had jumped at the chance to help the Boy-Who-Lived, and had completely understood the need for the special bookcase – well, after a few more reassurances and a good bit of acting on his part – and hadn't asked any further questions.

The third compartment opened with the emerald and a hissed, " **Nightshade**."

This one was Harry's favorite: it was a small apartment. There were dark mahogany wood stairs that led down to the apartment. The stairs led to a living room with a leather cream-colored three-person couch opposite a loveseat and next to an armchair, both in the same color and material. It surrounded a small mahogany wood coffee table.

A window sat to the left of the stairs, it had cream curtains, and showed an aerial view of the room in which his trunk was in. Hazel told him that he could switch the view so that it showed the outside of the building he was in so that he could see the sky. However, the window could only show the room he was in and the outside of the building he was in, as if he was looking out of a window in said building. Anything more he would have to add himself.

The window also could not be seen from the outside, but better yet, the window could be opened to let owls through. Hedwig would not need to stay outside of the trunk. There was a spot on the outside of the trunk that Hedwig had to touch with her beak to be able to appear in the sitting room, although other owls would probably have some trouble getting through, but Hazel had assured him that they'd be able to get inside.

To the right of the stairs was a kitchen, about half the size of the Dursleys'. It had black marble counters. The cupboards were all made of the same dark mahogany wood, matching the coffee table. All the cupboards had stasis charms on them, but there were two big cupboards at the beginning, one with a cooling charm and one with a heating charm, and both had expansion charms on them. They would expand as more space was needed.

Opposite the stairs were three doors, one was a bedroom, one was a bathroom, and the other was a study (in order from left to right).

The bedroom floor was covered in a plush cream carpet, in the middle stood a soft cream-colored queen-sized bed with a mahogany wood frame, with a matching nightstand on each side, a floor-length mirror covered the left side of the room, and a walk-in closet, where all his formal robes and muggle clothing would go, stood next to it.

The bathroom was all black marble tiles with a shower and a Jacuzzi, which was sunk into the ground. The shower had glass sliding doors, and a shelf to put his necessities on. A loo sat on the far side of the bathroom, and a circular cream-colored rug was next to the Jacuzzi. Above the sink, a mirror stretched from the sink up to the ceiling and all the way across the wall.

The study was small; it had a mahogany bookshelf to the right, which was connected to the library, and on the left was a big, black marble fireplace with a black iron floo powder holder, he made a mental note to get some floo powder later. In the center of the study, facing the door was a mahogany wood desk and a high-backed brown chair behind it.  _'I'll have to see if I can get one of those big black, comfy rolling computer chairs in here,'_  Harry thought. He'd only sat in one once, when the Dursleys had been out on a trip and had left the house to himself, and he'd never forgotten the fun he had, rolling and spinning across the room in the chair.

The floo was already connected, all he'd have to do is write his address on the parchment that was on the mantle, point his wand, and say the address. If the address was accepted, the parchment would disappear in a flash of light. If not, then the parchment would flash red and become blank once more, and he'd have to come up with another address. He could also set a password, so that only the people who had the password could directly enter the study. Beside the parchment, there was a golden tab, which, once the foo was connected, would flash the name of the person attempting to contact him.

The whole apartment had plush cream-colored carpeting, except for the kitchen, which had mahogany wood flooring, the bathroom, which had black marble tiles, and the mahogany wood stairs. The base of the stairs had mahogany wood flooring in a square surrounding it, and a place to keep shoes.

All in all, the trunk with the bag had cost him 4,010 galleons. He got a 20-galleon discount on the bag, as he'd spent so much on the trunk. Considering how much he had in his trust-vault, he wasn't worried.

He had gone shopping to fully equip the apartment; he'd found a muggle store that sold the high-back leather rolling chair he'd wanted – he had moved the other chair in front of the desk in his study – he also bought groceries and other necessities that he'd need to survive the Dursley's next summer, just in case. Thank Merlin for stasis charms.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Harry!" Hermione shouted when she spotted him sitting at a table outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice-cream Parlour.

Harry turned and grinned, recognizing his best friend's voice.

Hermione gasped, "Wow, you look so much better without your glasses! Your eyes are so pretty!"

Harry smiled, blushing slightly at the compliment, "Thanks, those glasses were always getting in the way, and while I was exploring Diagon Alley, I saw this shop for eye-wear. At first I was going to get something similar to muggle contacts, but then Madam Selwyn, that's the owner's name, suggested correcting my eyes permanently, it was expensive, but it was a good investment. I just have to take a potion everyday before I go to sleep, and my eyesight will be corrected by Christmas!"

Hermione squealed and hugged him, "I'm so happy for you!" She then took a good look at him, taking in the new clothes, he was wearing an everyday black robe, underneath that, he wore a royal blue shirt and black trousers that were tucked in to black dragon-hide boots "Wow! You look great!"

Harry laughed, "Thanks Hermione, have you seen Ron?"

She shook her head, "I don't know, but he'll be here in a bit, I think. Did you finish your summer work? What electives are you taking?"

Harry smirked, "You lasted a minute longer than I expected to start asking about school."

Hermione huffed and lightly slapped him upside the head.

"Ow!" Harry mock pouted, rubbing his shoulder in an exaggerated way.

"Oh, stop it!" Hermione gave him a mock glare, they held out for five seconds, before bursting out in laughter.

"Okay, okay," Harry said, after catching his breath, "I took Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy."

Hermione looked surprised at the last two, "Really? That's so cool! I'm taking those four and muggle studies."

Harry spluttered, "B-but WHY? Your parents are already muggles!"

"But it'll be so interesting to see how wizards view them," Hermione explained.

Harry shook his head, "Only you Hermione, only you."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, I need to speak with you both, if you would please step into my office," McGonagall called.

Ron stopped to look at them, but McGonagall waved him ahead.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other curiously, before they turned and walked after their head of house.

Once inside, McGonagall handed them each a piece of paper, "These are your schedules. As you can see, you both have classes that overlap. Usually we would not have this problem, as many students don't take that many classes, or not those specific classes. "

Harry looked at his schedule, on Monday, Divination and Ancient Runes overlapped; on Thursday, Divination and Arithmancy overlapped; and on Friday, Charms and Ancient Runes overlapped. He looked over to Hermione's and saw that it was the same, except hers had Divination, Arithmancy, and Muggle studies overlapping on Thursdays.

Harry looked up, "What about the Gryffindors taking Charms and Ancient Runes on Friday? Surely we aren't the only Gryffindors taking Ancient Runes? Not to mention, Divination, Arithmancy, and Muggle studies?"

McGonagall pursed her lips and her face took on a disapproving look, "None of the other Gryffindors took Ancient Runes, except yourselves and Dean Thomas, who has been moved to the Charms class with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. The other Gryffindors did not take overlapping electives. Usually if the student only has one overlapping class, they are moved to a class with a different house."

"So what about us?" Hermione asked.

"You will be given time-turners," McGonagall spoke.

"Time-turners?" Harry asked.

McGonagall nodded, "Yes. I have gotten permission from the ministry to give you two time-turners. It is not rare that we need to ask for time-turners for the students, most of them are, of course, Ravenclaws. A couple of the older years have had them, however, most stop using them after their third year, as they drop a couple of the courses and stick with two or three of the ones they really like."

She explained what they were and how to use them, also going through the rules and warning them not to misuse the time-turners, as they were a privilege.

Both nodded and were each handed a time-turner on a gold necklace.

As they were about to leave, McGonagall spoke, "Oh, do remember that you are not allowed to tell anyone of this. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor," Harry and Hermione chorused.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"This is a bunch of crap! You're just a two-bit fraud!" Hermione snapped.

Everyone watched in awe, as  _The Hermione Granger_ told off a teacher.

She stood up, silently glancing at her two friends to see if they would follow. Harry shook his head; he had to stay with Ron. Plus, there was also the fact that he couldn't keep the time-turner if he dropped Divination, and he'd found it was a very useful little thing to have around.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hermione," Harry called, catching her attention before she could leave.

"What," Hermione snapped, still pissed because of what had happened at breakfast.

"Can we talk?" Harry asked, slightly flinching at her tone.

Her eyes softened, "What is it?"

"Not here, come on," Harry said, he pushed open the portrait hole and led her down to an empty stretch of hall with no portraits. He threw up a silencing charm, and then turned to Hermione, who was looking confused.

"I know who sent me the Firebolt," Harry said bluntly.

Hermione gasped, "What! How come you didn't say anything?"

Harry shook his head, "Hermione, the only reason I'm telling you, is because you worry and probably would have gone to the teachers and created unnecessary panic."

Hermione looked down guiltily, but determination flashed in her eyes, "It could have been cursed! It could have been sent from Sirius Black! Remember first year with Quirrell?"

Harry shook his head, "Let me tell you why it couldn't have been cursed, firstly, the packaging is unopened, that means it came straight from the shop. Wizarding packaging is different from muggles; they have to have all sorts of protection charms on it, especially expensive stuff, like a  _Firebolt_ , so that it doesn't get stolen,  _or_ cursed, especially since they use owls to deliver it which can be intercepted."

Hermione sighed seeing the logic in her friend's words, "Fine. Though you caught me just in time."

Harry looked at her curiously.

She smiled, guiltily, "I was heading out to get Professor McGonagall."

Harry sighed in relief, "Thank Merlin I found you before then!" He sighed mournfully, "I have _got_ to break that faith that you have in authority figures!"

She slapped him on his arm, "Harry! The adults would have just looked it over!"

"Seriously?" Harry asked in disbelief, "They could have wrecked it! They probably would've tried to take it apart and then tried putting it back together! I mean, it's more than a thousand galleon broom, you can't just take it apart and put it back together!" Harry exclaimed incredulously.

"Haha," Hermione chuckled nervously, "It's a good thing you stopped me then, isn't it?"

Harry rolled his eyes, though he felt a twinge of guilt for lying to his friend. He had no idea who had sent him the broom, but he hadn't lied about what he said about the spells on the packaging. And anyways, he doubted Sirius Black would spend so much on a broom just to kill him.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry watched as Sirius flew off on Buckbeak. He turned back after Sirius was out of sight.

"Come on, Harry, we need to get back to the hospital wing," Hermione said softly.

"He was my last chance at escaping the Dursleys," Harry whispered.

Hermione sucked in a sharp breath, and quickly pulled him into a hug, "Oh Harry."

He hugged her back, glad for the silent comfort.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hermione," Harry called.

"Hmm?" Hermione said.

Their eyes were closed as they lay against a tree trunk, basking in the warm sun. Exams were finally over, although Ron still had his last exam with Trelawney left, so he was going to join them later on. He had already finished his own.

"When an Animagus transforms, they don't need their wands, right?" Harry asked.

Hermione finally opened her eyes and turned her head to face him, "No, it's called wandless magic. However, wandless magic is extremely hard, and you have to be a very powerful wizard to accomplish even the most basic things. Like Professor Snape, when he slams the classroom doors with a wave of his hands."

Harry nodded, "But what about Animagi? I mean, look at Pettigrew, he wasn't,  _isn't_ , very powerful but he's still an Animagus."

Hermione hummed thoughtfully, "I'd have to look into it, but that's a good point. Why are you asking?"

"I was just thinking-"

Hermione gasped, "Wow! Really?"

Harry elbowed her in the side, "Hush you!"

Hermione laughed.

"Anyways, our wands have traces on them so we can't do magic over the summer, but, if we don't use our wands…" Harry trailed off, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emerald: Yo! How do you like it? This chapter is the basis for the rest of the story. The next chapter is where the story will start.
> 
> 2nd Year Explanation: In cannon (the movie, since I don't have a copy of the book), Ginny wakes up as soon as Tom Riddle is destroyed after Harry stabs the diary repeatedly. However, in here, Harry only stabs the diary once, so the magic takes some time to leave Ginny's body, that's why she doesn't wake up immediately and Harry has time to repair the book. That's my theory anyways.
> 
> 3rd Year Explanation: The class schedules, I got those off of the Harry Potter Wiki. There are quite a few classes that overlap, this is the full schedule:
> 
> Monday:
> 
> Care of Magical Creatures
> 
> Divination and Study of Ancient Runes
> 
> Transfiguration
> 
> Potions
> 
> Defense Against the Dark Arts
> 
> Tuesday:
> 
> CoMC
> 
> Potions
> 
> Astronomy
> 
> Wednesday:
> 
> History of Magic
> 
> Herbology
> 
> Thursday:
> 
> Divination, Muggle Studies, and Arithmancy
> 
> Transfiguration
> 
> Potions
> 
> DADA
> 
> CoMC
> 
> Friday:
> 
> Potions
> 
> Charms and Study of Ancient Runes
> 
> DADA
> 
> I hope that this answers any questions you may have.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Change of Name: Someone corrected me, that Talis Est Volvite does not mean "the die has been cast" but Alea Iacta Est is the proper translation. Thank you SIN for the correction. All of my Latin knowledge extends to Harry Potter and the random fics that use Latin, other than that, I have no Latin experience whatsoever. Although, I do know that Alea Iacta Est is correct, I double-checked (I feel so stupid for not thoroughly checking before). It's much easier when you already know the words.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
> 
> Pairings: I'm not sure if I will do any pairings, but if I do, it will be Male/Harry (most likely Voldemort). This is not a Harry/Hermione or Harry/Luna.
> 
> Edited: 10/20/17

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

" **Parseltongue"**

_Harry Writing_

_Tom Writing_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

4th Year:

Harry sighed, Vernon had still been angry after what happened with Marge, thankfully, the Dursleys had found out about Sirius Black being his Godfather, not to mention, he was a "known" mass murderer, so he had escaped a beating. He'd hashed out an agreement with Vernon, saying that if Vernon let him keep his trunk in his room, they would not see him at all during the summer, that they would not need to feed him or even let him out to use the loo. They wouldn't even now he was there.

Vernon had looked at him suspiciously, then reluctantly agreed; in return he did not want a peep out of Harry.

Harry had gone to his room, unshrunk his trunk and had then proceeded to go to his study. He had yet to set up the floo, for lack of an address and the fact that it had slipped his mind, but he had the perfect one now.

He took out a quill and wrote the address he had decided on; then he took out his wand and tapped it on the parchment, "Prongslet's Place."

The parchment flashed and disappeared. He grinned, and then took his wand and tapped it on the golden tab on the mantle and said, "Padfoot."

He watched as it pulsed silver and his grin widened, the password was set.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hedwig swooped in to the living room and landed on her perch.

"Hoot!"

Harry smiled as he came out of his study, he had just finished his Arithmancy homework, and he couldn't be happier. He was finally able to do his work during the summer holidays instead of rushing the night before and it was a good thing, too, because now he had a lot more classes. He'd had to give the time-turner back at the end of his exams, but McGonagall had promised that he could have it back before the Welcoming Feast. Hermione had dropped Divination and Muggle Studies, so had to give her time-turner back permanently. McGonagall had tried to get him to drop a few subjects as well, but the time-turner was too useful to lose and if he had to do work for one more class because of it, then so be it.

"Hey girl," Harry stroked his owl, "Do you have a letter for me?"

Hedwig cooed and stuck out her leg, Harry took the letter and gave her a treat. Hedwig nipped his fingers affectionately, before ducking her head under her wing to take a nap. He'd told his friends that he'd send them Hedwig as he wasn't sure if Errol or Pig could find him.

|Letter|

Harry,

Hey mate, how are you? Hope the muggles are treating you right. Guess what?! Dad's got tickets to see the 422nd Quidditch World Cup! He said he'd come get you, of course. Are the Dursley's connected to the floo? Hermione's already here, I can't wait, it's so exciting!

Reply soon mate,

Ron

|Letter End|

Harry chuckled he could practically feel the excitement oozing off of Ron. He walked to his study and took out a piece of parchment and a quill.

|Letter|

Hey Ron, Hermione,

Your dad doesn't have to come get me, I have my own floo, and it's better for everyone if the Dursley's don't know I'm leaving. Just get me a date and time, and I'll be at the Burrow. I can't wait to see you guys again! 

Harry

P.S. Don't tell your parents about the Dursleys not knowing, it'll just create problems. See you soon!

|Letter End|

Harry decided to let Hedwig rest for a bit before sending off the letter. He had to finish his homework. For once, he wanted to get it done earlier rather than later.

"Hermione would be so proud," Harry snorted.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry concentrated on the book that was on his desk. He held his hand above it and concentrated on the feeling of his magic, pulling it towards his hand, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The book rose above the desk, flying through the room following his hand before he brought his hand down, making the book hover in the air, before it landed with a soft thump. Harry smiled. He had started by pushing things around on the desk, using his magic, and then he had graduated to the first year spells. Though it had taken him weeks to reach this point.

He frowned, he had tried a few of the second-year spells, but they wouldn't work. He had been at it for more than a week now. He was left simply practicing the first-year spells over and over again. Although, he had tried to use his magic without saying the words – it seemed to work sometimes, but other times, it didn't – it still left him frustrated.

He sighed and got up, he needed a break.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry frowned as he thought of something, how would he get his trunk to the Burrow? He had just received a reply from Ron telling him to come over as soon as he could. There was, of course, a spell that could be used, but he wasn't allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts and his wandless magic was not up to that level.

He had considered taking the Knight bus, but his relatives weren't supposed to see or hear him, or they would take away his trunk. That was their agreement and he wouldn't put it past Vernon to consider their agreement broken and not let him have his trunk next summer.

If only he'd had a house-elf, he could just order him to shrink down his things and just pop it over to the Burrow after he left. Speaking of house-elves…

"Maybe Dobby can help…" Harry muttered, pacing in front of the couch.

"Master Harry Potter sir called for Dobby?"

Harry whirled around, behind him stood the elf he had freed from Lucius Malfoy more than a year ago.

"Dobby what are you doing here?" Harry asked, he paused, "Wait, Master?" Harry furrowed his brows, he was pretty sure Dobby had called him that before, but he had been too tired to notice.

Dobby looked nervous as he twisted his ears.

Harry suddenly remembered the green light he had seen, "Dobby, what did you do?"

"Dobby is SORRY," the elf cried and lunged at Harry's knees, nearly knocking him over.

"Whoa, Dobby, it's okay," Harry said, trying to calm the blubbering hysterical house-elf, who was now possibly his.

"Dobby, calm down," Harry ordered. The house-elf calmed down slightly and stepped back.

"I'm not mad, Dobby. I just wish you would've told me," Harry said, his eyes softening at the teary-eyed house-elf.

Dobby smiled shyly, "What does Master Harry Potter sir need?"

"Just call me Harry and I am going to go through the floo, so I need you to take my trunk to the Burrow," Harry said.

Dobby nodded, "Dobby will do as Master Harry says."

Harry cocked his head, "Dobby why did you bind yourself to me? I thought you wanted to be free?"

Dobby looked down, "Dobby only wanted to be free of bad masters. But Dobby cannot be completely free. If Dobby cannot serve a wizard, then Dobby's magic will go away. Watch."

Dobby snapped his fingers.

Suddenly Harry was able to see a thin glowing green line connecting Dobby to him. Harry listened as Dobby explained the connection between them and how much magic it took to keep a house-elf alive, it was surprisingly small, like a drop of water from an ocean.

"Why is the line flickering?" Harry asked.

"It is because Master Harry has yet to accept," Dobby explained.

"What do I do to accept?" Harry asked. After all, he didn't want Dobby to die and if Dobby was happy to be bound to him, who was he to deny him?

"Master Harry must say 'I accept the house-elf known as Dobby in to my service, so mote it be' and the bond is being complete," Dobby said.

Harry nodded, he looked at Dobby, "Are you sure, Dobby? That you want to be bound to me and not someone else?"

Dobby nodded, his bat-like ears flapping frantically, "Yes! Yes! Will Master Harry accept?"

Harry smiled, "I accept the house-elf known as Dobby in to my service, so mote it be."

A flash of white light and then Harry could see the connection become thicker and stop flickering.

Harry looked at Dobby and was surprised to see a silky black pillowcase with the Potter family crest stitched above the heart.

"Dobby is happy Master Harry has accepted! Dobby will be going to make dinner, now!" Dobby said, happily bouncing to the kitchen.

"Oh, Dobby," Harry called before the elf could vanish in to the kitchen.

"Yes, Master Harry?"

"You are never allowed to punish yourself, that is an order," Harry said firmly.

Dobby nodded, tears gathering once again in his eyes as a grin made its way on to his face, "Yes, Master Harry!"

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry looked at the Hogwarts letter in his hand:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL  _of_  WITCHCRAFT  _and_  WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

He thought about Sirius, surely a man with so many titles and respect could get Sirius a trial? Why hadn't Dumbledore insisted on a trial in the first place,  _before_  locking up a man in Azkaban? What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called. The silence in the hall was deafening, as Harry registered what had happened.

Hermione shoved him with a whispered "Go."

He numbly got up, walking up to the staff table, Dumbledore motioned for him to go in to the side chamber, just off the Great Hall where the other champions were.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry finally snapped as Severus Snape finished speaking, "Oh yes! I'm such an attention-seeking whore that I went and got myself entered in to a tournament that is only entered by students at least three years older than me!"

Harry glared at the silent room, his magic starting to fill the room, making an invisible wind gather around him, lifting his bangs so that everyone could see the lightning bolt scar on his head, his Avada Kedavra colored eyes glowing with power.

"Eternal glory? Fame? Money?" Harry said, looking around the room full of people.

Harry sneered, "Tell me, who were the last three champions of this tournament? Or, not even that, just tell me the name of the winner?"

When everyone remained silent, he continued.

"No one? Apparently eternal glory isn't so eternal, after all," Harry spat, the wind still circling his form, making his robes swirl, "Fame? I survived the killing curse at the age of one at the cost of my parents; actually, they died on this very day! I think I'm pretty much set for fame. Money? Please! I'm the only heir to the Potter fortune, a thousand galleons is pocket change to me!" Harry said, glaring at the people who all looked slightly guilty as the validity of his claims sunk in.

"Mr. Potter, detention!" Snape snapped.

Harry smiled coldly, the wind suddenly died down, everyone looked apprehensive, "Assign all the detentions you want, you biased bastard, you can sit there and serve them yourself!"

"Harry! Apologize, that was unwarranted," Dumbledore said, throwing him a disapproving look.

Harry sneered, but before he could say anything, McGonagall stepped forward.

"Harry James Potter! While your reaction is to be expected, your words to Professor Snape were rude and uncalled for. While Professor Snape had no right to assign you detention for your outburst, that is no way to speak to a teacher, is that understood?" McGonagall said, her tone firm. Harry nodded, looking ashamed, he had let his temper get the best of him, although, he wasn't sorry for what he'd said; Snape deserved it. She then turned on Severus.

"Severus Tobias Snape! You are a teacher, act like it! At first, I did not believe that you would stoop so low as to hold the sins of the father against the child, but it seems like I was wrong!" McGonagall snapped, her stern tone taking on a note of disappointment.

Severus looked down, not liking that tone in his friend and colleague's voice. Minerva had never taken that tone with him, unlike others' opinions, he cared about her opinion; she had always been fair to him, no matter what anyone else said. She had always stood up for him.

"Now, now, Miner-" Dumbledore started to speak but a glare from McGonagall stopped him in his tracks. No one dared make a sound: the Hogwarts' staff and the adults who had been taught by her knew how frightening the Head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress could be, and the foreigners were speechless at the display of power she showed, when she managed to shut Dumbledore up.

"Both of you will apologize to each other," when none of the two moved, McGonagall's voice took on a chilling quality, "Now."

Harry flinched and looked up from underneath his bangs, "I apologize Professor Snape, that was uncalled for." Not really.

"Severus!" Minerva snapped, a warning in her tone, when he didn't respond. She glared at him to get her point across that she was not in a tolerant mood.

Snape scowled, but stayed silent for a few moments, before finally relenting under her glare, "I accept your apology and I apologize on your treatment by myself based on your father."

"I accept your apology, professor," Harry said, pouting slightly, when McGonagall looked at him.

"Now, Ludo, is there anyway that Mr. Potter does not have to compete?" McGonagall asked after no one spoke for a few minutes.

"U-um well, Barty knows the rules," Ludo said, slightly afraid of the stern witch, who in a minute, managed to tame the feared potions master that made fourth years cry.

"His name came out of the Goblet, it is a magically binding contract, he must compete," Barty stated.

"I guess that settles it," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling; though he was slightly wary of his Deputy Headmistress, even he'd never managed to get a response like that out of Severus. Ever.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Diggory, both of you off to bed," McGonagall said sternly.

"Yes, professor," Harry and Cedric spoke as they hurried off.

They both sighed in relief as they stepped out of the room in to the Great Hall, glad to be away from the stern professor.

"Potter," Cedric said, as they approached the doors.

"Hm?" Harry looked up.

"I believe you and I'll make sure to tell the Hufflepuffs."

Harry smiled, "Thanks, but I don't think it'll make much of a difference."

"It's not much, but every little bit will count, especially with the Slytherins, they're going to be horrible to you."

Harry groaned, "I know."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry looked at his trunk. No one was in the dorm room, he was wary of what he was about to do, he had been stressing over it all day, but he needed all the help he could get, and if the help came in the form of the teenage Dark Lord's diary, then so be it.

He tapped the sapphire gem with his wand,  **"Hedwig."**

He slid the shelves aside until the shelf with Tom Riddle's diary came in to view. He slid the book off the shelf then locked the trunk.

He took his self-inking quill and put it to the paper.

_Hello Tom._

_Well, hello Harry Potter. What brings you to seek out my company?_

_Do you know what the TriWizard Tournament is?_

_Of course._

_Do you know what the tasks are like?_

_Yes, but it was discontinued before I was in school, why?_

Harry bit his lip. He couldn't let him know that he'd been entered or Riddle would ask him for something in return.

_Just curious, they restarted the tournament this year. Only students 17 and older may enter._

He had just finished writing the last word, before a response was given.

_You were entered, weren't you?_

_What makes you say that?_

_Because you don't use my diary unless it's important, in fact, you've only used this diary three times, not counting your second year when you didn't know what it was. The first was to make sure I was okay, the second was for your electives, and now._

He didn't answer. He looked down and saw more writing appear.

_I can, of course, help you find the answers you seek._

Harry snorted.

_Nice try, Riddle. But I'm not keeping you with me so that you can possess me. I'll find out how to deal with this on my own._

_Oh, I wouldn't possess **you**._

A shiver ran down Harry's spine. Why did he have the feeling that Tom had just purred? He shook his head. Focus!

_I'm not letting you posses anyone else, either!_

_Suit yourself, but I'm here if you need help, well, with the proper incentive that is._

Harry sighed as he shut the book. Well, Riddle hadn't been any help. What was he going to do now?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do. It was two weeks after the Halloween feast; it was lunchtime in the Great Hall, and all the students and staff would be there. He gathered every ounce of his Gryffindor courage and pushed open the doors and walked in.

Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, but none of the nervousness that he was feeling inside showed on his face. He walked passed the Gryffindors and straight up to the staff table. A hush followed, as every eye in the great hall was drawn to him.

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore started to speak, but Harry didn't respond. Instead, he spun on his heel and whipped out his wand, casting a sonorous on his throat, he spoke.

"I, Hadrian James Potter, do so swear on my magic that I did not put my name, nor did I ask anyone else, student or teacher, to put my name in the Goblet of Fire, so mote it be."

A flash of magic accompanied his words. He pointed his wand at his throat and muttered a "Finite Incantatum."

He pointed his wand at the Gryffindor table and said, "Wingardium Leviosa." The goblet, which his wand was aimed at, slowly floated up into the air and weaved over the heads of the students. He set it back down and walked over to the Gryffindor table, sitting down beside Hermione. She smiled at him, as the Great Hall slowly began to fill with noise again. This time, everyone was talking about the binding oath that the fourth TriWizard Champion had made.

Harry heard quite a few people claiming that they never doubted him for a moment, Harry snorted at that.

"That was brilliant!" Hermione said. Harry grinned, and gave a mock bow, "Thank you, thank you very much."

Hermione giggled at his poor impersonation of Elvis.

She looked around, "The Hufflepuffs look guilty; so do the Ravenclaws."

Harry quirked a brow, "What about the Slytherins?"

"They look disappointed that you made the oath, I don't think those 'Potter Stinks' badges are going to be so popular anymore. How did you know to do that, anyways?" Hermione asked, looking over at him questioningly.

“I remembered that swearing on your magic was a full-proof and easy way to find out if you were lying or not,” Harry shrugged, “Since I was telling the truth, I was fine.”

“Hadrian?” Hermione quirked an eyebrow.

“My full first name is Hadrian, I found out about it in my first year, when I went back to Gringotts after Hagrid dropped me off at the Dursleys,” Harry explained, “Speaking of…I need to check in with the goblins about something.”

Hermione’s other eyebrow went up to join the first.

“This tournament is for wizards of-age only,” was all Harry said in reply.

“Does this mean you don’t have to participate in the tournament?” Hermione asked, bringing the topic back to the point. 

Harry sighed, and shook his head, “No, unfortunately, the rules are pretty binding. Even if I didn’t put my name in, I still have to go through with the damn thing.”

He looked around and saw many of the Gryffindors turn their heads away quickly, so as not to be caught eavesdropping. He turned back to Hermione, who was scowling at a group of second year girls.

“Do you think we’ll ever have a quiet year?” Harry asked, pouting slightly.

“Nope,” Hermione replied, popping the ‘p.’ She fell silent when she saw who was approaching them.

"Uh, Harry?" Ron came up to the other side of the table where the two-thirds of the Golden Trio sat, and took a seat opposite them.

"What do you want Weasley?" Harry said, his tone cold. Hermione threw Ron a glare, then turned and got out a book from her bag, and preceded to burry her nose in it, completely ignoring the redhead.

Along with the Slytherins, with their "Potter Stinks" badges, the Puffs', and Ravens' with their own glares and taunts, Ron had been a complete and utter prat because of his jealousy. He had resorted to throwing dirty looks and calling him names, as well.

Harry could easily forgive the Puffs and Ravens, they didn't know him, they didn't pretend to be his friends. Slytherins? Well, they were Slytherins; honestly, it would've been weird if they  _hadn't_  taunted him. But, Ron? Ron was supposed to be his best mate, his first friend. Well, he'd seen how much that friendship had meant.

Ron flinched at the cold tone in Harry's voice and his face burned at the dismissal from Hermione, but he took a deep breath, "I should have believed you when you said that you didn't put your name in the Goblet, but everyone was saying you did, behind your back," Ron said, trying to defend himself.

A hush had fallen over the hall once again, as everyone listened to the approaching argument between the Boy-Who-Lived and his best mate.

"Everyone else isn't my best mate.  _Everyone_   _else_  doesn't know me.  _Everyone_   _else_  hasn't been my friend since first year.  _Everyone else_ is.  _ **Every.**_ _ **One.**_ _ **Else**_ ," Harry said, his voice deadly calm, putting emphasis on 'everyone else' to drive home his point.

Ron glared, "Look, I said I'm sorry! What more do you want?!"

Harry stared in to the youngest male Weasley's eyes, "First of all, Ronald, you never said you were sorry. All you did was make an excuse about how  _everyone else_ was talking behind my back. Secondly, what more do I want? I want a friend who's loyal, who's not going to abandon me at the first sign of trouble. Someone who won't care what  _everyone else_ thinks!" Harry finished with a hiss.

Harry had kept his voice a normal level, yet the whole hall had heard.

Hermione stood up with her bag, pulling Harry with her, she turned back to Ron after taking a few steps away from the table, and in a cold voice said, "I understand that loyalty isn't a dominant trait in you, as you aren't a Hufflepuff, but even a Slytherin wouldn't have abandoned a friend like that. Stopped showing support for them publicly, yes, but leave them floundering on their own and taunt them every chance they got? No."

She threw one last glare at Ron and walked out of the Great Hall beside Harry, leaving Ron at the Gryffindor table, his mouth gaping wide and his face burning red.

A rush of noise filled the great hall as the doors to the Great Hall shut after the two retreating figures.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

' _Dragons. The first task is dragons,'_ Harry thought, stumbling back from the sight of the huge beasts. He and Hermione had gone down to meet Hagrid to relax for a bit after the encounter in the Great Hall, but Hagrid had been waiting for him at his hut.

Hermione had gone back to the castle because Hagrid had told her to make sure that Harry wasn't missed. Then he had turned around and started leading Harry past the Forbidden Forest.

Harry turned to walk back up the hill.

What was he going to do? How was he supposed to defeat a bloody  _dragon_? They were huge, especially compared to him! The others had at least three more years of experience than him. He let his feet lead him, lost in his thoughts. There had to be something he could do.

Harry stopped, coming out of his thoughts.

He was at the second floor girl's bathroom, where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was. He had been meaning to go back and check out the chamber, but it hadn't been a priority, but now that he was here, he stepped inside. The bathroom had a few puddles on the floor, but was otherwise dry  _'…and deserted,'_  he thought.

He walked up to the sink that had a snake engraved on it,  **"Open."**

He looked around once more, before taking off his invisibility cloak and stuffing it into his pocket, before sliding down the tunnel. He walked through the tunnels to the main chamber; it was just like it had been, the basilisk lay still, with a whole in its mouth, the snake statues were still there – although some were destroyed – and a statue of Slytherin loomed overhead. Harry frowned there was something different. Harry looked around, trying to put his finger on it.

He suddenly realized what it was. When he had left with Ginny, two years ago, Salazar Slytherin's mouth had been left open, now it was closed. Harry frowned; he knew that there were no other Parselmouths except for him and Voldemort. Maybe it had closed on its own? Or was there perhaps something there.

He racked his brain, what had Riddle said to open Slytherin's mouth?

" **Salazar Slytherin."**

The statue rumbled and opened slightly, but not enough for Harry to go inside. He racked his brain, he knew it was longer; it was just on the edge of his tongue…

" **Speak to me!** **Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."**

The statue rumbled and finally opened all the way. Harry turned his wand on himself, "Wingardium Leviosa," he muttered before he was lifted into the air. He floated himself up to the mouth and set himself gently down. No matter how much he'd gotten better at wandless magic, he was not taking any chances with a high drop like that.

As soon as he was inside, he knew there was more, for stretching out in front of him, was a corridor with three doors: one on each side and one at the end of the passageway.

He opened the first door and found a study filled with bookshelves all around the walls, which reached the ceiling and an open book on the old wooden desk with a quill sitting in the middle. There was a high-backed faded green chair behind the oak desk. The whole place was covered in dust and looked like it hadn't been used in decades, which it probably hadn't been.

He opened the second door and found a bathroom. It was similar to the prefect's bathroom on the fourth floor, he'd never been, but had heard about it from some of the other male prefects.

He closed the second door and finally made his way to the third and last door. He opened the door and stepped inside to find two other doors. One was labeled Kitchens in faded gold writing and the other was labeled Exit.

He opened the exit by hissing  **"Open,"**  because it wouldn't open with a simple push, and peeked outside. His eyes widened as he saw where the door led out. He stepped outside and found himself behind the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls how to do ballet on the seventh floor… Harry grinned, which was near the Gryffindor common rom! He wondered if he could open the chamber from the portrait… He'd have to test it out when he left.

Harry went back inside, glad that he hadn't closed the door, and made his way back to the study.

He waved his wand in a sweeping gesture, "Scourgify!"

After a few more spells, all the dust was vanished; he browsed the books and pulled out a tome on wandless magic. He sat in the dust free chair and cracked open the old book, carefully keeping it on the table, so that it wouldn't get damaged. He'd use the time-turner to go see Hermione later.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

After the revelation last night, Harry realized one thing: all the champions except Cedric knew about the Dragons in the first task. He turned the corridor and entered the Courtyard. He looked up from his book on Parselmagic, disguised as his transfiguration text, to see Cedric with a bunch of Hufflepuffs giggling at a joke he had made. He took a breath and walked over to them.

"Cedric, can we talk?" Harry asked, his gaze focused on Cedric and his expression serious.

Cedric looked at him, noting the seriousness in the younger boy's posture and nodded. They walked further away from the group before Harry stopped.

"What is it?" Cedric asked.

Harry took a deep breath, "The first task, we have to face a dragon."

Cedric laughed, "Good one, Harry! Haha…ha…ha."

His laugh died when he saw that Harry was completely serious, "You're not kidding?"

Harry shook his head, "Krum and Fleur already know, and I found out last night."

Cedric ran a hand through his chestnut locks, "I… Thanks, Harry."

Harry nodded, "It's only fair."

He turned and left Cedric to go back to his friends. He opened his book once more, his attention going back to the spells in Parseltongue that could overpower other spells in the human language. Just as he was about to go back in to the school, he bumped in to a hard chest. He startled and stumbled back a few steps; he looked up, only to come face to face with Malfoy. He mentally sighed; he didn't need this headache right now.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry asked, a bit of annoyance creeping in to his voice. He snapped the glamoured book shut, but before he could put it away, Malfoy snatched it from his hand.

Malfoy smirked, "Well, well Potty, didn't know you were such a book worm."

Harry's eyes flashed, a moment of panic flashed in his eyes; he couldn't let Malfoy see what was inside, before his expression straightened out once again. He snapped his wrist and willed the book to come back to his hand. The book flew from Malfoy's hand to his own, "Don't ever touch my things again, Malfoy." His tone was cold; he turned around and walked past the group of shocked Slytherins.

Malfoy snapped out of his shock and pulled out his wand.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" A roar came from the other side of the courtyard.

Harry turned around to see Moody, pointing his wand at a white ferret that lay twitching on the ground. Harry gasped in horror as Moody bounced the ferret up and down.

Just as it was about to hit the ground for the third time, Harry snatched the white ferret out of the air, he turned incredulous eyes on the defense professor, "What are you doing?"

Harry could feel the ferret shaking; it's tiny heart beating wildly against Harry's fingers. The ferret burrowed further in to Harry's chest, trying desperately to hide from the menace behind him.

"He was about to curse you behind your back, Potter," Moody growled, his wand still pointed at the ferret.

"And that's a reason to turn him in to a ferret? He's  _fourteen,_  Professor," Harry said, by now everyone in the courtyard was watching the trio.

Moody growled, "You don't know his kind like I do, Potter, you don't know what his father may have taught him!"

"The worst he could've done, in front of a large crowd of witnesses, was make me trip or tap dance or something else humiliating," Harry said.

When Moody opened his mouth to say more, Harry shook his head, "You are a teacher, not an Auror. Your job is to protect students, not turn them in to rats!"

The ferret squeaked indignantly at the word, but Harry just tapped its nose with a finger, a silent command for silence.

"I'll take him to Madame Pomphrey," Harry said as he spun on his heel and walked up to the Hospital Wing, not letting the Professor say another word.

On his way up he looked down at the ferret who was still burrowed in his chest, he chuckled, "You know Malfoy, you make a cute ferret, maybe I should keep you like this for a few days."

The ferret immediately straightened up and chittered indignantly, though Harry could still see tremors racking its small body.

Harry chuckled once again and opened the doors to the Hospital Wing, "Honey! I'm home!" he shouted.

"Not funny," Madame Pomphrey scowled at his cheek, she pointed to his usual bed, "Sit. What's wrong?"

"Me? Oh no, I'm here for someone special," saying so, he held up the ferret in both of his hands, while it squeaked.

Madame Pomphrey looked confused, "Unfortunately, Mr. Potter. I only look after wizarding children, there is a clinic in Hogsmeade that may suit your needs, or you may just take him to Hagrid."

Harry chuckled at the angry chattering that followed her statement, "Ah, long story short, Malfoy here tried to curse me behind my back and Moody came along and turned him in to a ferret."

Her eyes widened as she took Malfoy from him, "Oh dear, well that man has always been curse first ask questions later," she shook her head, "Well, do me a favor and get Professor McGonagall for me."

Harry nodded a mischievous glint in his eyes, "Are you going to use the big needle to put him to sleep or the extra-large needle?"

The ferret's eyes grew wide as he made a loud chattering noise, struggling to get out of Madame Pomphrey's firm grip.

She scowled, "Go you little scamp. Mr. Malfoy! Calm down, there will be no needles."

Harry laughed as he walked out of the hospital doors; he stopped as he bumped in to Professor McGonagall.

"Ouch! Professor! I was just coming to get you," Harry said as he rubbed his nose. He needed to pay more attention, at this rate he'd be bumping in to an Avada before he knew it.

McGonagall looked down at him, "I figured, I saw you walk off with Mr. Malfoy and heard what you said to Professor Moody."

Harry looked down sheepishly, "I just-"

"10 points to Gryffindor."

Harry looked up, wide-eyed, "What?"

"For standing up and defending your rival," McGonagall said, a small smile on her lips, "Now, come on, I'm sure Mr. Malfoy would like to thank you as well."

Harry stunned, just nodded and followed her in.

"Ah, Minerva," Madame Pomphrey said in greeting, "I assume you know of the situation?"

McGonagall nodded and took out her wand, "Set him on the bed, if you will Poppy."

Madame Pomphrey nodded and set the ferret on the bed, "There we are."

McGonagall swished her wand and silently cast the spell, "There you are Mr. Malfoy."

Malfoy sat up wide-eyed; he clenched his hands and looked himself over.

Madame Pomphrey ran a few diagnostic spells over him and gave him a clean bill of health.

"I assume you'll be wanting to thank Mr. Potter, off you two go," McGonagall said.

The two boys nodded and left the Hospital Wing.

"Er…" Malfoy started awkwardly.

Harry smirked slyly and waved him off, "You owe me one, Malfoy."

He turned and walked back in to the Hospital Wing, leaving Malfoy Jr. gaping behind him.

"Madame Pomphrey?" He knocked on the Mediwitch's office door.

"Mr. Potter? Do you need something?"

Harry rubbed his head sheepishly, "Can I get a headache potion?"

Her brow furrowed in concern, "You have been taking care of yourself, correct? Or will I have to confine you in here for a few days?" she asked suspiciously.

Harry chuckled, "Nah, I'm totally fine, I just have a bit of a headache, what with all this tournament nonsense."

Madame Pomphrey gave him another concerned look, before she went to the potions cabinet and grabbed the potion he wanted, before she handed it to him, she spoke, "You will come and see me if you are not feeling well, right?"

Harry nodded and smiled gratefully after he downed the potion.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry quickly tapped the emerald on his trunk and hissed,  **"Nightshade."**

He swiftly climbed in and closed the trunk lid, locking it once more. For once, he was glad it was a Hogsmeade weekend and that Snape had banned him from going, because he and Ernie Macmillan were caught arguing, though he didn't get a detention like Ernie did. Thank Merlin for small mercies.

He quickly crossed the living room to his study where the fireplace was; he had business with the goblins to take care of.

Taking a pinch of floo powder from the small holder it was in, he threw it in to the fireplace and stepped in to the emerald flames, "Leaky Cauldron!"

He stumbled out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron; at least he hadn't fallen flat on his face.

"Hullo, there. Aren't ya supposed to be at school?" Tom the barman asked.

Harry smiled, "Hello Tom. No, it's a Hogsmeade weekend and I had some business to look into here, so I got permission from Professor Dumbledore."

"Ah, well, best be on your way then lad," Tom said, giving him a toothy grin.

After waving farewell, he made his way to the back. He knew by taking Dumbledore's name he was taking a risk, but it was also safest, considering if he'd taken one of the other professors' names it would be looked into. Many people put a lot of faith in Dumbledore and most didn't even blink twice.

He arrived at the big white marble building and nodded to the two goblin guards, they nodded back; no longer surprised that he did so. It was always best to be polite, and he had done so the first time he had been here and every time after that.

He walked up to an empty teller and waited for the goblin to look up.

"Yes?"

"I would like to see the Potter account manager, please," Harry said.

"Identification?"

Harry handed over his key. After the goblin examined it, he handed it back and rang the bell on his desk. Another goblin came to where they were.

"Follow him and he will take you to the Potter account manager," the teller said, before dismissing him.

"Thank you," Harry said before following Griphook.

"Hello Griphook, it's been awhile," Harry said pleasantly.

What seemed like shock, flittered across the goblin's face, "You remember?"

He always loved shocking the goblins. Harry smiled, "Of course, you were the one who led me to my vault the first time I came here."

Griphook didn't say anything in response. He stopped at a door that was leading out of the big hall and pressed his hand to it.

He pushed it open and continued down the corridor, and through another door. They continued on, going through doors and twisting and turning through corridors, finally stopping at one that had a gold plaque that had the name  _Anorak_ engraved on it.

Griphook knocked twice on the door, they heard an "Enter," and Griphook led him inside the office.

"Thank you, Griphook," Anorak said, Griphook nodded and left.

"Mr. Potter, what can I do for you?" Anorak asked, once the younger goblin had closed the door.

"Hello, Anorak and I thought that we had agreed to you calling me Harry?" Harry said, the goblin smirked but nodded in acquiescence.

"I'd like to talk to you about my minor status. I've been entered in to a tournament for students that are of or above age, is it possible to claim my lordship now instead of when I turn 17?" Harry asked, getting straight down to business, "The Ministry, Dumbledore, and the other two heads of the other schools are all having me participate."

"Hmm," Anorak said as he sat back in his chair and thought about what he said, "I suppose you could, but to make sure, we would have to see if the Potter Lordship ring would accept you."

Harry nodded, "Can we do that now?"

Anorak nodded, "Yes, but first, we must confirm your identity, security measures, and also see if you have more than the one Potter inheritance."

After he got a nod from Harry, he summoned a blue tinted parchment and a red and black quill.

"This is a blood quill, as you write your full name, it will draw upon your blood and transfer it to the parchment, using your blood to then write out all of your inheritances if you have more than one."

Harry nodded and pulled the quill and parchment closer to him.

_Hadrian James Potter_

As he put the quill down, he saw his blood glow on the parchment and continue writing.

_Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black_

_Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter_

_Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell_

_Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor_

"Why is the House of Black first?" Harry asked.

"It is in the order of most recent to the oldest. You are an heir of Gryffindor first, because of it being the oldest, then Peverell, then Potter, and then Black, because you were named the heir to the Black fortune after your birth, though you probably could have gotten it anyways, being that your Great Grandmother and Godfather were both Blacks," Anorak said.

He noticed that Peverell was in black, while the rest was in red.

"What does that mean?"

Anorak took the parchment and looked it over, he muttered something, then walked over to the filing cabinet behind his desk, and opened the third drawer and dug around in it until he found what he was looking for.

"Ah, here it is, the Peverell family tree. Although you are descended from the Peverells, you are descended from the youngest son, Ignotus Peverell. Normally, a lordship is given to the oldest son, however, Antioch Peverell died before conceiving any heirs, so the lordship was passed on to Cadmus Peverell, and his heir is still alive, in the loosest of terms, but still living. We count you dead when your soul has left the earth or if you become a ghost, however, none of that has happened. You can claim the heir's ring for the Peverells, but not the lordship," Anorak explained.

Harry nodded, "What about the Black and Gryffindor lordships, isn't Sirius Black still alive?"

"As you know, Sirius Black named you his heir the day you were born. Since he was thrown in to Azkaban, his vaults remain locked and his lordship is revoked. So you can also claim that. As for the Gryffindor lordship, you are descended from the oldest daughter, but if you don't want to take it, it will remain unclaimed until you have an heir of your own and he or she will have the chance to take it again as there are no other living descendants of Gryffindor."

"I'd like to claim the Potter, Black, and Gryffindor lordships now if possible and get the Peverell heir ring," Harry said, "Also, when I claim the lordships, I will be considered an adult, right?"

Anorak nodded. "Yes, it will be magically filed within the Ministry, you will be allowed to move out, get your apparition license, use magic outside of school, and take up your seat on the Wizengamot and the School Board of Governors as you are the Head of Gryffindor house," he said. He waved his hand and a black jewelry box with intricate gold designs and a slit at the top, came flying over to them.

Anorak took the small parchment and fed it into the slit, a flash of blue lit up the room and the parchment disappeared.

"Put your finger in to the key hole," Anorak instructed.

Harry felt a prick in his finger and blood being drawn out from his index finger.

The box clicked open and four rings lay on the soft black velvet.

Anorak pointed to each ring, "Gryffindor, Potter, Black, and Peverell."

Harry nodded, the Gryffindor ring had a gold band with the Gryffindor crest on it. The Potter family also had a gold band and the Potter crest was engraved on a ruby in gold. The Black ring had an obsidian band with the family crest engraved on an amethyst in silver. Lastly, the Peverell heir ring was a thin silver band and had a circle inside a triangle with a line going through it vertically. The symbol was engraved in gold directly on to the band.

Anorak showed him how to merge the three lord rings – the Peverell Heir ring couldn't be merged because it wasn't a lord ring – and how he could choose which crest showed, there were four in all. The Gryffindor, the Black, the Potter, and then all three crests merged together to form one crest. He decided to wear the ring on his right hand's ring finger with the Potter crest showing and he decided to wear the Peverell Heir ring on his right hand's middle finger.

"I would also like a brief list of my holdings," Harry said, once he had gotten the merged ring arranged the way he wanted it.

Anorak nodded and opened another file and pulled out three pieces of parchment, "This is the Potter, Black, and Gryffindor holdings. I cannot show you the Peverell holdings, as you need permission from the Lord," Anorak explained.

Harry nodded. He looked over the Potters first.

_Trust Vault:_

_50,000 galleons_

_Potter Family Vault:_

_96,687,987 galleons 9,800 sickles_

_Family Heirlooms/Books:_

_7,894 items_

_Precious Gems/Jewelry:_

_5,609 items_

_Holdings:_

_Potter Manor_

_Godric's Hollow (In Ministry Holding)_

_Prongslet's Place_

Harry was slightly surprised to see his trunk's address on there, but put it in the back of his mind.

"How much money does my trust vault get each year?" Harry asked.

"Each year it gets refilled to 50,000 galleons, until you turn 17 or take control of the Lordship," Anorak replied.

Harry nodded. He looked at the Black holdings next.

_Black Family Vault:_

_5,674,739,271 galleons 8,500 sickles_

_Family Heirlooms/Books:_

_17,989 items_

_Precious Gems/Jewelry:_

_19,769 items_

_Holdings:_

_12 Grimmauld Place_

_Black Manor_

Damn! Just with the Potter and Black vaults he was rich. He turned to the last parchment.

_Gryffindor Vault:_

_963 galleons_

_Family Heirlooms/Books:_

_14,786 items_

_Precious Gems/Jewelry:_

_258 items_

_Holdings:_

_¼ Hogwarts_

_\- Gryffindor Tower_

_\- Room of Requirement_

_\- ¼ Quidditch Pitch_

_\- North Wing Classrooms_

"How come there isn't as much in the Gryffindor Vault money wise as there is in the Potter and Black vaults," Harry asked.

"As you may know, Gryffindor had two daughters and the families they married were each well off, they would use Gryffindor's name but not the monetary contents of the vault. Occasionally, some would come and withdraw certain books or put in some things, but not much else," Anorak explained, "However, the descendants stemming from Gryffindor's younger daughter fell in to poverty and they died out, taking the fortune with them. The eldest daughter, whose family the Potters are descended from, was joined to the Peverell family, who were already very influential and quite well off. Since then, the vault has remained untouched and the money inside has not been invested in any new businesses. For now, it can mainly be thought of as a storage vault."

Harry nodded. That was interesting, he would see if there were any interesting family history books in the vaults. He'd also have to check out these properties as soon as he could, if he planned it just right, Dumbledore could not make him go to the Dursleys, Blood Wards be damned. Speaking of… "What about my Magical Guardian? Will Dumbledore have any power over me?" Harry asked.

Anorak shook his head, "No, other than when you are at school where his headmaster duties are, he has no power over you. When you accept your lordship, you are automatically emancipated, usually it doesn't matter as you are an adult when you turn 17, but occasionally, the head of a family dies before the heir has reached his or her majority and the lordship is taken up earlier. However, be warned. If you drop out of Hogwarts, it does not matter if you are an adult, you will not be allowed to keep your wand. You must take your OWLs and earn at least 5 OWLs to keep using your wand legally."

Harry nodded. "Thank you Anorak. I think that is all for now. May your gold be prosperous and your enemies unfortunate," Harry said, knowing that the old greeting was a tradition that many wizards had forgotten. He had heard another old wizard speak it to the teller when he had snuck back to Gringotts his summer before first year and when he had met Anorak the first time, he'd asked him about it.

Anorak smirked, "May your gold be prosperous and your enemies unfortunate."

Harry walked out of another door that led straight to the lobby where all the tellers were. Harry wished that he could've used that door to get to the office, but knew it was a safety measure so that thieves or rival families couldn't get to a family's account information.

He cast a quick  _'Tempus'_ and saw that he still had half an hour left before he was missed. He quickly turned on his heel and walked to Ollivander's.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, what can I do for you?" Mr. Ollivander asked, coming out from behind the shelves.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander, I was wondering if you sold wand-holsters?"

Ollivander nodded, "Ah, yes, I was wondering when you'd come get one. You had already been ushered out before I could offer the first time."

Harry nodded, Hagrid had been a little freaked out and took him out as soon as was possible without appearing rude.

"Yes, well Hagrid wasn't feeling too well," Harry replied, chuckling slightly.

Ollivander nodded, he pulled out three different holsters. "There are three different types. There's the standard student model, which just keeps a hold of your wand; then there's the adult model, with anti-summoning charms; and lastly, there is the Auror model, it has anti-theft, anti-summoning, and recall charms on it. So even if you drop your wand, it won't hit the ground, your wand will be suspended 3 inches from the tips of your fingers and it'll shoot back in to your hand," Ollivander explained.

Harry nodded, "I'll take the Auror model and is it only available in brown?"

Ollivander shook his head, "The Auror model is made of dragon hide. We have black, green, blue, silver, and brown."

Harry considered the holster before saying, "I'll take the green one."

Ollivander nodded and put the three models away before going to the back and taking out a newly wrapped holster, he took out the new holster from it's wrapping and  handed it over to Harry, who examined it and nodded. It was a dark green, almost black color. He strapped the holster to his lower right arm.

"How much?" Harry asked.

"45 galleons."

Harry nodded, he paid for the holster, bidding Ollivander a farewell, he left the old shop and back to the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace.

"Prongslet's Place," Harry said, making sure that Tom's attention was elsewhere, then, once he had stepped in to the emerald green flames, he muttered, "Padfoot," under his breath, before he was whisked away.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry sat in the tent as he waited for his turn. His eyes were closed and he was meditating… or at least, trying to. The noise of the crowd, however muted, made it hard to concentrate. Fleur had just finished and Krum was waiting for his signal.

'Relax, Harry, you have a plan and if one fails, you have two other back ups,' Harry thought, calming himself slightly.

He stood up as the crowd roared again and he knew Krum had finished. A big boom signaled for his turn.

Holding his head high with blood pounding in his ears, he walked towards the arena floor, out of the tent and to the cheers, and boos, of the crowd.

"BEGIN!" Boomed Bagman's voice as cheers once more erupted.

He quickly hid behind a rock and raised his wand, making sure to speak in a low voice, he said, "Accio Golden Egg!"

He peeked out from behind the large rock, the egg didn't even twitch, Harry sighed, he had half expected it to work, but hadn't been too hopeful, even if most wizards didn't have an ounce of logic, it didn't mean that  _all_  of them didn't. Plan A was a failure.

Well, on to Plan B. The dragon hadn't done anything except watch him, for now, but he didn't know how much longer that would last.

His eyes narrowed as he concentrated, imagining speaking to a snake,  **"Accio Golden Egg!"** However, he still kept his voice down, so the crowd couldn't hear the hissing over their murmurs. It wouldn't do for the reporters to find out he was a Parselmouth. While it wasn't exactly a secret, no one but the students, third year and above, the staff, and probably some of the parents, knew; and he'd rather keep it that way.

The egg trembled a bit but, after a moment, it flew from the nest and in to his outstretched hand.

As soon as the egg hit his hand, cheers erupted from the crowd. Though there were many confused faces as to what spell he used. The dragon roared as she saw the egg fly over to him and let out a stream of fire. The dragon handlers all rushed in to try and calm the mother.

Harry sighed in relief as he was pulled in to the medical tent to be checked over by Madam Pomfrey. He was glad that had worked; after all, he wasn't too fond summoning his Firebolt and then flying around the dragon, trying to get at the egg. Although, he could have tried floating the egg over to him using Wingardium Leviosa, but that ran the risk of being too slow, especially if the dragon's fast response was any indication.

After getting a clean bill of health from Madam Pomfrey, he was sent out to get his score.

"Before we give the score," Dumbledore began, "Could we know the spells you used so that we may judge accordingly?"

"I used the summoning charm," Harry stated, 'just not in the language you're thinking of,' he thought.

Some of the judges spluttered, but most retained their composures, he saw Sprout and McGonagall trying to hide smiles, while Flitwick was outright grinning.

"W-well," Ludo said, slightly stuttering in surprise, "Judges?"

Dumbledore shot a 9 in to the air with a smile. Next to him, Madam Maxine shot a 7 in to the air, and then Karkaroff shot a 4 in to the air. After him, Barty Crouch Sr. shot a 7 in to the air, and finally, Ludo Bagman shot a 10 in the air.

' _37? Not bad, I was expecting something a lot lower, but I guess I didn't get injured or hurt the other eggs,'_ Harry thought.

"Now, Champions! Your Golden Egg will hold the clue for the next task which will be held on the 24th of February, more will be said closer to the date of the task itself," Ludo Bagman said.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Harry! You were brilliant! And did you see the looks on the judges faces!" Ron said as he pushed past the partying students to get to where Harry and Hermione were in the common room.

Harry said nothing as Hermione at glared Ron. She was still pissed at him for saying the things he had said behind Harry's back.

As Ron was about to open his mouth again, no doubt to put his foot in it, Fred and George came over to them and pulled Harry up. They handed him the golden egg, then hoisted him up on their shoulders.

"Guys?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.

"Ladies and Gents!" George began.

"The Great-" Fred took over.

"Brilliant-" George added in.

"Champion-" Fred said.

"Has to open-" George continued.

"His prize!" They both finished saying together.

Harry laughed and held up the egg, still on the twins' shoulders, "You want me to open this?"

The Gryffindor common room lit up with cheers from all the students.

Harry grinned, his eyes sparkling mischievously, "What? I can't hear you!"

This time the common room roared with approval.

"Okay, here goes," Harry said, as he turned the latch…

A horrible screeching sound filled the room, making Fred and George drop him gently to the ground, before covering their ears. Harry quickly slammed the egg closed.

Dean was the first to speak, "What the hell?"

Harry laughed at the looks he saw coming from around the common room, before he was ensconced between the twins once more.

"Harry!" Fred said.

"If you're-"

"Laughing, that-"

"Means you-"

"Knew what-"

"Was going to happen!" They finished together in an accusing tone, although their eyes held humor.

Harry laughed some more, "Guys, I had to face a dragon to get this, you really think it's going to be a children's rhyme that's held in here?"

Snorts were heard from around the room at the ridiculousness of that statement, but before anything more could be said, the portrait hole opened up and the students saw their Head of House standing there with her arms crossed.

"All of you go to bed. Now."

No one dared to disobey as everyone trudged up the stairs and to their own beds.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry sighed as he settled in the study that was in the Chamber of Secrets with a book on Occlumency. He had learned many things from the books here, especially with the time-turner. However, he wasn't making much progress on this particular branch of magic anymore. He had made barriers and defenses, but he needed a Legilimens to see if they could actually hold up.

The good thing about Occlumency was that his mind was a lot more organized and he had an easier time remembering theories and spells. His grades were rising in class. Before he had been average, with the exception of DADA, but now, he was catching up with Hermione in his other classes as well, although potions was a different story.

Even if Snape no longer despised him outright, he was still harder on him than the other students, even if he had gotten better in potions. Thanks to the book on potions basics he had gotten over the summer, he was no longer a danger to the other students.

He shook his head out of his thoughts and put the Occlumency book down on his desk and looked at the book on Animagi that was beside it. He had ordered the potion used to find out if he had an animagus form, he didn't want to make it himself, no matter how much he had improved in potions, he still wasn't that good, and the Animagi potion was rather complicated.

It was supposed to arrive by the end of the month as he had ordered it from out of the country. If he did have an Animagus form, he didn't want to be registered.

He looked at the desk that was littered with books. It was on all types of magic, not just Dark, but also on Light and Neutral magics. With the help of these books he had gained a better understanding of Dark magic. At first, he hadn't known what to think, how could healing be dark?

Gradually, as he read more and more, he understood what Dark and Light really meant, and what the Dark and Light really meant to the Ministry and the Wizarding World, and with that, he understood what Voldemort had said at the end of first year.

' _There is no good and evil, only power and those too weak to seek it,'_  Harry thought, but he shook his head, although he understood what Voldemort was saying, he didn't agree with that, to him it was similar but not the same.

' _There is no Dark, no Light, only Magic and the intent behind it.'_

Once Harry had accepted this, he realized how many restrictions he had placed on himself, and now, how many restrictions he was free of. Magic was just Magic. With this thought in mind, his wandless magic became easier, even as he stopped using the words and simply worked with his intent.

He closed his eyes, letting his thoughts whirl around his head and dozed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emerald: Here's the second chapter! Thank you to everyone who commented/left kudos/subscribed, seeing all those emails fills my heart with joy! I can't wait till I upload chapter 4 *hint, hint*


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**"Parseltongue"**

_Harry Writing_

_Tom Writing_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

During breakfast, a few days after the first task, a large eagle-owl swooped in to the Great Hall followed by the usual owls delivering the morning mail.

The large bird landed beside Harry, a plain brown package with a card that had a cauldron with a wand pointed downward above it, was tied to the leg. Harry grinned, recognizing the symbol of the apothecary in which he'd ordered from on the card.

He took the package and put it to the side, careful not to drop it. He fed the owl some bacon and gave it some water, before the owl nipped his fingers in thanks and flew off.

"What's that?" Hermione asked, curiously.

"Hm? Oh this?" Harry asked gesturing to the package, before picking it up and standing to leave. "Just something I ordered. I'll meet you later for our first class," saying so he grinned and stood, leaving a pouting Hermione behind.

He hurried up to the second floor girl's bathroom, where the entrance to the chamber was located. He had found out that you couldn't open the chamber from the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy, which was only an exit. The only way to enter the chamber was the bathroom.

He decided to use the time-turner after he spent the day in the chamber; he was too excited to see his animagus form to wait.

"Hello Harry, what are you doing here?" A voice came from behind him, he turned around and saw Myrtle as she came out of her cubicle, her hands going up to wipe at her cheeks.

Harry's eyes softened and he smiled, he never liked seeing people cry, "Hello Myrtle, now, now, what's that for? You shouldn't cry, you're much prettier when you're smiling."

Her cheeks darkened in to the ghostly form of a blush and she giggled, she swiftly went back in to her toilet with a loud splash.

Harry shook his head; Myrtle was always shy. He looked at the tap and hissed out an,  **"Open,"** making the sinks rumble. He slid down the pipe, belatedly hissing out a,  **"Close."**

He made his way to Slytherin's study. He took out the Animagus manual and flipped through it to the page where it was listed of what to do with the potion.

Harry sat down in the chair, and gently unwrapped the small box. Inside, suspended in the middle, was a vial of silvery-blue animagus potion.

According to the book, he was supposed to take the potion, and then he had to start meditating. He would then go in to a trance and in the trance his animal would appear.

Harry drank the potion in one go, not particularly wanting to taste much of it, then he walked around the desk and sat crisscross on the rug and leaned back so his back rested on the front of the desk. It took a few minutes to calm his mind, but soon his breathing had even out, as if asleep.

He didn't know how long it had been, but after awhile, fog crept in to his mind, filling his mind's eye. A black shape formed in the mist. He craned his neck, trying to get a better look, the shape was big, it had four legs, he looked upwards and saw sharp teeth, as it opened it's mouth and a large bushy tail was swaying behind it. The shadows clung to the figure, Harry squinted, trying to urge the figure to come closer, to reveal more of itself. He watched as it crept closer, the clinging shadows seemed to drip down from where it touched the earth. A gasp left Harry as he recognized what he was seeing, before the image faded, leaving him drowsy.

He stumbled his way to the comfy chair behind the desk and promptly fell asleep.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry jerked awake and looked around. It took a full minute for his brain to register what happened, then a full-blown grin formed on his face. He could become an animagus! He had been worried for a bit when the book had warned that not everyone could become an animagus, but he could!

He suddenly remembered that he had been asleep and it would be wise to check the time, he quickly muttered a, "Tempus," and waved his hand, '12:46 pm' came up in glowing silver letters. Harry sighed; he'd been asleep for a good five hours. He decided to start on the next step. 

> _Once you know the animal in which your animagus form will take, you must have another person learn these two spells, the first is for forcing you to go in to your animagus form; the second is to take you out of your animagus form. You must learn both spells before attempting the transformation._
> 
>   * _Caution: The second person must cast the second spell under 10 minutes, because the longer you remain in your animagus form, the harder it will be to transform you back._
> 

> 
> _After you have completed the second step, you may start trying to transform each part of your body in to a part of your animagus form. For example, if your animagus form is a dog or cat, then you must try to first turn your hands in to paws, or on a smaller level, your nails in to claws. If your animagus form is a type of bird, try to transform your feet in to talons, or try to grow feathers on your arms. The most important thing about this step is to remember how you felt when you were temporarily in your animagus form by use of the first spell._
> 
>   * _Caution: You must not try this step before having the spell-induced transformation, if you do, you may be stuck in that stage forever if you managed it. If you did not manage the transformation, but still try to force your body to go through with it, your body may become unstable as your magic will react and will try to transform at random times, causing as much pain as the cruciatus curse._
> 


Harry's head flopped down on to the book. He needed another person. Great. He glared at the book; it was like it was trying to make sure that he couldn't do it alone.

Harry sighed and decided to work on some of the less complicated Parselmagic spells that he had yet to master and then he could work on his wandless abilities, while a lot better, he could always use the practice. In the mean time, perhaps he could ask someone to help him out, perhaps Fred or George…

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Gryffindors! Quiet," McGonagall called out as she entered the portrait hole.

All the Gryffindors, fourth year and above that were gathered in the common room, fell silent.

"As I announced today in each of your Transfiguration classes, the Yule Ball will be held at Hogwarts and I will not have my lions making a fool of themselves! Dance classes will be held and attendance is mandatory! Classes will be held on the weekends, the times are after lunch until one hour before dinner. You will report to the transfiguration classroom," McGonagall said, getting groans from the boys and giggles from the girls.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry and Hermione made their way to the Transfiguration classroom, where they saw that all the tables and chairs were cleared to leave a big empty space.

Harry mock groaned and made to turn around, but Hermione grabbed his arm before he could make his escape and dragged him in to the room where the boys and girls sat on opposite sides, there were quite a few students already there.

"Hermione!" Harry whined, looking at her with glistening green eyes, knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist. At first, he had resented being called cute, but then he had begun to turn that cuteness into a weapon.

Hermione had a smile on her lips that she tried to hide unsuccessfully, "Come on, Harry! It's not so bad!"

"Yes it is!"

Hermione giggled before gently pushing Harry towards the boys' side before going to sit with the girls. Harry was a little surprised when she engaged Lavender and Parvati in a conversation.

Harry pouted as he went to take his place below the twins, but before he could sit down, the twins pulled him up to sit between them.

"Aw! Don't pout, Harrykins!" George said, swinging an arm over his shoulders.

"It won't be that bad," Fred said, slipping his own arm around Harry's waist, making it so that Harry was thoroughly sandwiched in between them.

Harry playfully tried to get away as he stretched out his arms, "Nooooo!" although his eyes gave away his mirth.

"Too late!" The twins chorused together.

Harry laughed.

McGonagall strode in to the room, dragging Ron behind her, and automatically all talking stopped, though Fred and George didn't remove their arms from their positions and Harry didn't mind.

"Alright, since everyone is finally here," she glared at Ron who shrunk back, "We will start."

The next 10 minutes were spent explaining and demonstrating how to do a classic waltz. Unfortunately for Ron, and to the amusement of everyone else, he was caught snickering and had to demonstrate the waltz with McGonagall.

Harry muffled his laughter in his hands, his shoulders shaking, whereas Fred and George didn't bother to muffle their own laughter, and made catcalls in between their laughter.

In between gasps of breath at Ron's red face, Harry said, "You are never going to let him forget this, are you?"

The twins grinned, "Never," they chorused, which brought on another bout of laughter.

Apparently, McGonagall took mercy on Ron and finally stopped, Harry almost pouted, "Alright, now, everyone grab a partner, and start dancing."

Fred and George got up, finally letting go of Harry. Harry sighed as none of the boys had moved besides standing up, except Fred and George, who were stretching.

Harry rolled his eyes as he went towards Hermione, he gave her a sweeping bow, and a charming smile, "May I have this dance, milady?" He teased jokingly.

Hermione laughed, "Of course, kind sir."

Harry laughed and took her hand, spinning her around and leading her to the center of the room.

Fred was next, taking Angelina's hand, and George with Alicia. Seeing the three boys on the floor dancing, the other boys took their cue and started asking the girls to dance.

"Wow, Harry, you aren't that bad for someone who has never danced before," Hermione complimented.

"Of course, there's a book about dancing in the library," Harry said, hiding a smile.

Hermione's eyes widened, "Really?"

Harry snickered, "Nope."

"Harrrrrry!" Hermione said, dragging out his name.

Harry lifted a shoulder in a shrug, "At the Dursleys' I always had to be quiet and swift without dropping anything, so in a way, I guess that made me more graceful, which really helps," Harry said, "Plus, I was paying attention."

Hermione laughed, "I bet, I almost feel sorry for Ron."

"Only almost?" Harry asked.

"Of course! He deserved it," Hermione said.

Harry looked at her innocently, Hermione suddenly grew wary, "What?" she asked, almost reluctantly, not really wanting to know, but still had to.

"Even if you have a crush on him?" Harry whispered in her ear, before suddenly letting go of her waist and twirling her around.

Hermione gasped, "What!" she said, slightly louder than she meant, causing a few heads to turn towards them. She blushed and ducked her head.

Harry laughed, before catching her waist again, "Oh come on! It's not that hard to figure out!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed, "I can't keep anything from you, can I?"

Harry smiled, "Nope! That's what happens when you've been best friends for four years!"

Hermione shook her head, as they slowed a bit more, "I used to," she admitted.

"Used to?" Harry prompted, seeing as this was something that she had wanted to talk about for some time.

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, but at first, I didn't even believe that I liked him like that, you know? I mean, he was so dense and so-so…"

"Idiotic?" Harry asked.

Hermione smiled, "lazy. He was nothing that I was looking for in someone, but then I started liking all those things about him… But then, he ditched you!"

"Hermione," Harry said softly, "Just because I'm not friends with him, doesn't mean that you can't be. I won't hold it against you, and I won't stop being your friend because of that."

Hermione smiled, "Thanks Harry, but you didn't let me finish. I realized that if he could throw away a friendship of four years that started even before you got to Hogwarts, due to his jealousy, then what would happen if I were in a situation similar to yours? Would he break up with me just because everyone else doesn't like me, or if I was friends with another boy and everyone thought we were together?"

Harry's eyes widened, "Wow, you've thought about this, haven't you?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, the first couple of days after he ditched you, I was asking myself how could he do this to you? And then I realized, that this was just a crush, there would be more boys and it would go away sooner or later. As soon as I realized all of this, it stopped hurting and well, anger settled in." Hermione shrugged.

Harry grinned, "Ah, that explains it!"

Hermione laughed.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry twisted in his sheets as sweat trickled on his brow.

|Dream|

"Barty," A voice hissed from a small floating chair in the room, "How isss the tournament going?"

"My lord, Potter is tied in second place with the Diggory boy," A dirty blonde-haired man said, from where he was kneeling on the floor.

"I sssee," the first voice hissed, "Make sure that all goes according to plan and that he does not fail or you shall be punished."

"Yes, My lord," Barty said.

|Dream End|

Harry awoke with the sheets twisted around him. Voldemort. He was the reason that he was placed in the tournament. But why go through all that trouble? Why not just have Barty kidnap him, he was obviously capable of sneaking in to the school if he put his name in the Goblet. Why not just slip him a portkey?

He was missing something; he was sure, but what?

Should he tell Dumbledore?

He bit his lip, thinking on that. No. It wouldn't do any good. Dumbledore was always absent until the last moment; he'd have to go through the tournament anyway. Except… His mind turned to the diary nestled in his trunk. A vague plan started forming in his mind, before a yawn interrupted him, forcing its way out.

He'd think about it in the morning. His head hit the pillow and he was out like a light.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry was wandering the halls after lunch, when he bumped in to a girl with long blonde hair that reached her waist in ringlets, silvery-blue eyes that gave her a soft look, pale skin and a heart-shaped face. She wore radish earrings and a Butterbeer bottle cap necklace. She wore the standard Ravenclaw uniform, but was barefoot.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Harry apologized as he helped her stand up, the young girl looked to be about Ginny's age.

"Oh, it's okay," she said in a dreamy voice, as she dusted of her robes.

"Are you okay…?" Harry asked, letting the end hang so he could find out her name.

She gave a smile that said her head was in the clouds, "Luna, Luna Lovegood."

Harry gave her a soft smile, "Harry Potter."

"I know," she said, before skipping off in the other direction.

That was the first time he had met Luna Lovegood.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry stretched and yawned; he decided to get something to eat before he headed off to bed. He walked out of the study and towards the door that said  _Kitchens_.

He pushed open the door and found himself surrounded by house-elves. He smiled kindly, "Hello, I was wondering if I could get something to eat?"

A female house-elf ran over to him and led him to a table, "Yous sit here and Mixy be bringing yous food, what would yous like?" Mixy said, hopping around excitedly.

"Some Shepherd's Pie would be great," Harry said tiredly. He had given Dobby a free day today, so he wasn't here. Harry mentally berated himself, he was getting lazy.

"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself, you have a lot to do," A dreamy voice floated to him. Harry's eyes widened and he whipped around, but relaxed when he saw who it was, though only slightly.

"Luna, hello," Harry smiled and gestured to the seat opposite him on the table.

Luna hummed and walked over to the other side and took the seat, flopping her bag down beside her.

Mixy popped up then and served them Shepherd's Pie with a goblet of pumpkin juice for each of them.

"Thank you," Harry and Luna said, as they both dug in to the delicious meal prepared for them.

"What did you mean when you said I have a lot to do?" Harry asked, after they had both finished their meals and were now sipping pumpkin juice.

"You have a lot of Wrackspurts around you, but they're different from the normal ones," Luna replied, her face not once slipping from its dreamy expression.

"Wrackspurts?" Harry questioned curiously.

"Oh yes, they're invisible. They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy," Luna commented.

"Those are the normal ones, right?" He asked.

Luna nodded.

"Then what about the ones you see around me?"

"Oh, those are the more decisive ones, they keep your brain from solving a particularly hard puzzle," Luna replied, "It's quite curious, actually."

His eyes narrowed as he thought over her words. Harry cocked his head as what she said earlier came to him, "Wait, if they're invisible, how come you can see them?"

Luna blinked in surprise, her dreamy mask slipping from her face for a moment before she pulled herself back together. Everyone had always just dismissed her whenever she spoke, but now, here was someone who actually thought about what she said and replied in kind. No one had ever bothered to ask her how  _she_  could see them, true, they made taunts at her, but, that was all they did, most didn't even listen to her, but here was someone who was seriously considering her.

A small smile came upon her face, not the dreamy one she always wore, but a genuine smile, "Because I can. You are very different, Harry Potter, you have given me a chance, and so, I will give you some advice," Luna said, her voice turning from slightly dreamy to complete seriousness, "You have many choices ahead of you, Harry Potter, be careful, do not always trust. Beware of the one you least expect, friend of the one your faith is shaken in, for he is not true to the other, but true to his alleged enemy."

"Goodbye, Harry Potter, I do hope your plans go well," with those last words, Luna picked up her bag and vanished from the kitchen, before Harry could even speak.

"Wait…" The word died on his lips as the door to the kitchen closed.

That was the second time he had met Luna Lovegood.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hello ladies," Harry greeted as he came over to the two girls who were sitting in a corner of the common room.

"Harry," they both smiled.

"Lavender, Parvati, I need a bit of information," Harry said, a charming smile on his lips. He had first talked to Lavender a few days after the first task, well, it wasn't really talking, it was more like comforting.

_-Flashback-_

_Harry turned the corner of the dark corridor and he immediately wished he had gone the other way. He could hear sobbing in the darkness, he thought about ignoring it, but dismissed the thought. He sighed and walked towards the sound. He wondered who could be out this late besides himself._

_He saw a figure huddled in the corner, the moonlight illuminating their small silhouette. He slowly walked up to the figure, which he recognized as a girl because of her long brown hair._

" _Hey, are you okay?" Harry asked, laying a hand on her shoulder._

_The girl jerked, startled._

" _H-Harry?" She sniffled as she peered up at the boy holding out a hand to help her up._

" _Lavender? Are you okay? Why are you crying?"_

_A fresh wave of tears overcame her and she flung herself at him, making him take a step back so as not to topple over._

" _Lavender?" Harry asked. He felt uncomfortable comforting someone, he wasn't really sure what to do, he shifted slightly, but she just clutched harder at him. He led her to the corner she was in and gently settled on the ground, while maneuvering her so she lay on his side with her head on his chest. He wound an arm around her waist and another gently stroked her hair._

_They sat together in the silent corridor, one comforting, and the other sobbing. After awhile, her sobs quieted and she straightened up._

" _Lavender? You okay?"_

 _She nodded, wiping away her tears and smearing her mascara even more._ 'She's okay, so just go,'  _Harry thought._

" _Do you want to talk about it?"_ 'No! Shut up mouth, stop talking! Please don't say yes, please don't say yes,'  _Harry wished he had a better filter for his mouth. He really did not want to be here._

_Lavender smiled like she could guess what he was thinking and he immediately felt guilty._

" _It's okay Harry, I don't expect you to do more," Lavender said, giggling when Harry sighed in relief, "Most boys wouldn't even do what you did, they probably would've just turned right around or ignored it."_

_Harry shifted guiltily, because he had thought to do the same thing, instead of commenting on that, he said, "Why don't we go back to the common room?"_

_Lavender nodded. Harry stood up and pulled her up. The walk back to the common room was quiet. As they neared the portrait of the Fat Lady, Lavender stopped him with a hand on his arm._

_Harry turned, a question in his eyes._

_Lavender smiled, "Thank you Harry."_

_Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Lavender hushed him._

" _Let me finish, please. Thank you for helping me, for holding me and letting me cry in to your robes. I know you probably felt uncomfortable, but you stayed. So, thank you."_

_Harry nodded and awkwardly pulled her in to a hug, "No problem."_

" _Lavender!" Parvati looked up as the two came in and rushed over to her best friend._

" _Oh, darling! I'll gut that bastard, then I'll cut off his dick with a blunt spoon and-"_

_Harry winced and felt pity for the guy Parvati was talking about._

" _Parvati! It's okay, I'm fine," Lavender said, reassuring her best friend._

_Harry quietly slipped away as the girls continued talking._

_-Flashback End-_

After that, he had found out that helping Lavender had put him in the good books of both the girls and he had also found that the two Gryffindor Gossip Queens were a well of information.

"Sure Harry, what do you need?" Lavender asked.

"I need all the information you can find on Luna Lovegood."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry leaned back in his seat, his eyes fixed on the books in the library, his thoughts on the young blonde. Luna Lovegood may act dreamy, but there was more to her. Her façade had slipped the last time he met her and that, in and of itself, said a lot. He frowned as he pondered over the info Lavender and Parvati had given him concerning the blonde third year. Apparently, she always had her head in the clouds.

He frowned, many called her Loony, and mostly, it was the girls that usually bullied her, but occasionally, there were some boys. Her main bullies seemed to be Cho Chang and her gang. He'd had a huge crush on Cho, and – had he not met Luna and looked into her – he would've asked her to the Yule Ball, but he had an extreme dislike of bullies. Mostly Luna's bullies would take her stuff and hide it from her, it was the reason she was barefoot when he first met her.

He had never seen Luna with any friends. When he asked about that, Parvati had said that Ginny was Luna's only friend. However, being in different houses, they didn't hang out much together, plus Ginny had other friends, as well.

"Harry?"

Hermione's voice brought him out of his thoughts; he looked over to her and smiled, erasing the frown from his face, "Hm?"

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Harry shook his head, "Nothing," when Hermione gave him a look, he continued, "It's nothing with me, it's just," he sighed.

Hermione waited patiently.

"Do you remember your first year?" Harry asked instead, "Before the troll on Halloween?"

Hermione nodded, "What about it?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair, "Imagine being that way for three years, give or take a few weeks, with a friend that is in another house and said friend has other friends, too."

Hermione's eyes widened, suddenly, she knew without asking, what he was referring to. The feeling of being alone… Before coming to Hogwarts, she hadn't had any friends. The kids, who had tried to befriend her, would always just be with her so that she would do their homework or let them cheat off of her. When they realized she wouldn't do it, they turned on her and made fun of her.

"Harry? Who are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

Harry got up from his spot, "Do me a favor," he said instead. When Hermione nodded, he continued, "Keep an open mind."

With that he walked out of the library, he took out the Marauder's Map.

"I solemnly swear, I'm up to no good."

"I wouldn't say that," a dreamy voice said from behind him.

"Mischief Managed," Harry said, putting his wand and the map away, he turned around and smiled, "I was just going to look for you."

Luna smiled, "I know."

Harry beckoned her in to the library, "Come on, I want you to meet someone."

Luna smiled her dreamy smile and skipped after him.

"Hermione?" Harry called, pulling his friend out of her book, "Meet Luna Lovegood."

Hermione's eyes lit up with recognition and she gave a smile, "Hello, Luna, it's nice to meet you."

"Hello Hermione, I can tell we'll have a lot to argue about," Luna smiled.

Hermione looked taken aback, Harry hid his smile with his hand, however both girls could see the mirth in his eyes. He pulled out a seat for Luna and she nodded, before taking the seat. Harry took his own seat, before looking seriously at Luna.

"Luna-"

But she shook her head, "It's okay, Harry, I'm used to it."

"You didn't even know what he was going to say," Hermione said, her eyes fixed curiously on the new addition, but there was no malice or accusation in her tone, and Luna seemed to realize this as she gave Hermione a smile.

"I can guess; it's been coming for some time, even if we've only met twice before this. He was going to ask about the kids who take my things, it's not a problem, my things always come back at the end of the year," Luna said, her eyes holding a hint of sadness.

"Harry," Hermione started, her honey-brown eyes not leaving Luna's silvery-blue, "Could you give us a minute?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded as he packed up his things, "I'll see you both at dinner?" he asked.

Hermione nodded as he turned and left.

"Hermione-" Luna started, but Hermione cut her off.

"You know, growing up, I learned that a lot of people don't like to do anything, they'd rather push it off on someone else. They always try to take advantage of the people around them, and if they don't get their way, then they turn cruel," Hermione said.

"Children can be cruel," Luna said, "But they are children, so it is okay."

"No," Hermione shook her head, "It isn't okay. Because if you don't teach children right from wrong, when they are older they will become worse. They will never have that balance that is needed between kindness and cruelty."

Luna remained quiet, her eyes on the table.

Hermione reached across the table and took one of Luna's hands in both of hers, "Do you want to know what I think?"

Luna looked up in to compassionate honey-brown eyes.

"I think that you are hiding behind a mask of dreaminess, so that you don't get taken advantage of, and there's nothing wrong with that, however, too long wearing that mask, and sooner or later, you won't know where the mask begins and where it ends. You've let your mask completely take you over, so now, that sadness that you felt isn't a problem anymore, because you've learnt to live with it, and that's not how it's supposed to be. Everyone deserves to be happy," Hermione said gently.

She herself had almost become one with her mask of indifference, however, in her first year, Harry and Ron had managed to snap her out of it, but before that, her parents had tried to keep her from burying herself in her books completely, but even they could only do so much and just barely succeeded.

Luna remained quiet, Hermione waited patiently, she knew that the message had to sink in.

"But what can I do?" Luna asked quietly, "There's nothing that I can do, there are so many of them and only one of me. Plus, this mask also protects me from people who could take advantage of me."

Hermione smiled, "Let Harry and I help you, and I promise, they won't bother you anymore. We'll protect you."

Luna searched Hermione's eyes for the truth, she was afraid to trust, if she took a chance, and they betrayed her, she would fall over the edge. She knew that. It had been a long time since she put her trust in someone, but she had a feeling that if she trusted Hermione, she could be happy. And, she wanted this so much, to have friends, to trust in someone again.

Luna took a deep breath and nodded, "Okay."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Harry!" Hermione squealed as she ran in to the common room and over to the fireplace.

"Wake up!" Hermione said as she shook his shoulders.

"Huh, wah?" Harry asked, groggily, he looked down and saw his History of Magic textbook, then looked up to see Hermione standing over him.

Harry yawned, "What?"

"Not here, come on," Hermione said as she pulled him from the common room and in the direction of the library, but Harry shook his head, and led her down to the Kitchens.

"Alright, what is it?" Harry asked after he had a plate of treacle tart in front of him.

Hermione rolled her eyes, she waited for him to take a bite before saying, "Viktor Krum just asked me to the Yule Ball!"

Harry choked, "Shit!

Hermione patted his back, "Language! It isn't that strange!" she huffed indignantly.

Harry shook his head, "No, not that! I don't have a date!"

Hermione face-palmed, "Of course! Did you even listen to what I said?"

Harry raised an eyebrow; "Surely it isn't that shocking that he's asked you, I mean, he's only been stalking you since the ball was announced!"

Hermione crossed her arms, "He wasn't stalking me! He was just getting up the courage to ask me!"

Harry snorted, "Suuuure."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hello Luna," Harry said, as he came and sat at the Ravenclaw table during lunch.

Almost all the students who were around them stopped talking at once, and the sudden silence from the Ravenclaw table spread until the whole hall was silent, every eye on them.

Luna smiled, "Hello Harry, did you want something?"

Harry nodded, taking Luna's hand in his own, "You see, I was just thinking that I don't have a date for that pesky Yule Ball thing that I have to go to, and I want someone interesting and beautiful with me, because if I just go for a pretty face, then I'm afraid the night will be dreadfully boring. So, I was wondering, if you would like to accompany me?" Harry asked, with a charming smile.

Luna giggled, "I'd be delighted to."

Harry nodded as he stood up, he held out his left hand, palm facing up, then he took his right hand's index finger and drew it in a circular motion and slowly drew his finger upward, in it's place appeared a green stem, then two leaves, and finally, he drew all his fingers together then let go. His hands at the sides – as if holding a ball – and in the middle floating between them, was a magnificent red rose.

"Until then, beautiful lady," Harry said as he kissed the back of her hand with his right and floated the rose over to her with his left. With one last charming smile, he walked back to the Gryffindor table among the catcalls from the Weasley twins and their friend Lee Jordan, leaving a delighted Luna behind, as well as most of the hall gaping at his display of wandless magic.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry was thankful that he had gotten dress robes beforehand, or he would've had to go get some from Hogsmeade. He wore a black robe made out of acromantula silk that seemed to flow like water whenever he walked. It had cost him a pretty penny but, it had seemed nicer than the others, and he had decided that spoiling himself a little never hurt, after all, it wasn't like all his clothes were going to be made of acromantula silk.

An emerald green shirt with silver buttons going down the middle and black trousers made out of the same material completed his robes. His trousers were tucked in to the dark green dragon-hide boots he'd bought, he had a thin silver chain around his neck, and the Potter family ring showing on his right ring finger. His hair fell around his head in waves, his bangs ending just above his eyes, covering his scar. He was glad he'd decided to grow it out; it was more tamed this way and as such, easier to manage.

Taking a last glance at himself, he left the dorm room where the other boys were still getting ready.

Harry went down to the Entrance Hall where Krum was waiting.

He nodded to his fellow champion, "Hello, have our dates arrived yet?"

Krum smirked, "Hello, and no, they hav not. Vere you expecting them to?"

Harry shook his head with a grin, "No."

They waited in silence for a few more minutes, before their eyes widened and their mouths dropped.

Descending the staircase were two of the most beautiful girls Harry had ever seen.

Luna was dressed in shimmering silver robes, gone were the radish earrings and bottle cap necklace. In their places were long diamond earrings with a sapphire teardrop in the middle; her pale neck was adorned with a matching diamond necklace with a similar, but bigger, sapphire teardrop in the middle. The front of her robes were dipped in a sweetheart neckline, showing off just enough cleavage to be tastefully done, the sleeves were long and flowed around her. The robes molded to her body shape at the top, then from the waist, flared down, swirling around her as she walked down the stairs.

Two long braids started at the sides of her head, and then came together at the back, falling in to one long braid. Her curls were now straightened in to a wavy look, leaving her hair to flow gracefully down her back in ripples.

She had put on a light pink shade of lipstick that looked natural on her, her eyes had blue eyeliner around them, making her silvery-blue eyes stand out, and a light touch of blush adorned her cheeks to give her some color.

Hermione wore similar robes of periwinkle-blue, however, her sleeves were shorter and ended halfway above her elbow. She wore a simple silver chain with an aquamarine gem in a diamond cut in the middle and silver earrings that had the same aquamarine diamond cut gem at the ends. Her hair was sleek and shiny, done up in an elegant bun with a lock of her hair twisting around her neck to hang over her shoulder. She had light eyeliner around her eyes, making her honey-brown eyes pop and pink lip-gloss adorned her lips.

As they descended the stairs, he noticed that they were each wearing high heels, silver for Luna and periwinkle-blue for Hermione.

As they came down the last step, he held out his arm as he said, "You both look stunning."

Krum nodded beside him, doing the same for Hermione.

Both girls giggled, "You both look dashing yourselves," Luna replied, with Hermione nodding beside her.

"Shall we, milady?" Harry asked as Krum took Hermione away.

Luna nodded. Harry had a smile on his face as he led her to where the other champions were.

Harry sighed happily, "I'm going to be the luckiest guy, you know?"

Luna tilted her head, "Oh? And why is that?"

Harry smiled, "Because I'll get to have the prettiest girl at Hogwarts on my arm for the whole night!" He declared.

Luna laughed, "Oh, stop you!" She said, pretending to blush, but Harry saw the laughter in her eyes.

"Although, if you turn out to be a horrible dancer, I'm not sure my feet would survive," Harry said, eyeing the pointy silver heels.

Luna laughed, "Don't worry, I'm perfectly good. If nothing else, Hermione is an excellent teacher. Thank you for the robes and jewelry by the way."

Harry shook his head, "You should thank Hermione, she's the one you went shopping with."

Luna smiled, "I did, but you are the one who paid for everything."

"Consider it a Christmas present," Harry said. He smiled as he received a peck on the cheek from Luna.

Just then McGonagall came in, "Alright, line up."

She led them in and stood to the side as they passed by her.

First to enter was Fleur on the arm of Roger Davies, after her was Cedric Diggory with Cho Chang. Next, Viktor Krum went in with Hermione Granger, gasps were heard through out the hall as every eye was on Hermione. Harry let her have her moment before coming in with Luna Lovegood. There was a second round of gasps that went around as every eye turned from the astonishing pair of Hermione and Krum to the youngest pair.

Harry and Luna walked with confidence up to the dance floor, their black and silver robes making a beautiful contrast.

The music started and Harry put his hand on Luna's waist, his other hand expertly sliding in to hers. Harry twirled her around as Luna gracefully kept in step with him. Everyone watched as the champions and their dates spun on the dance floor, as the first dance was completed, everyone clapped, and soon others joined them in their dance with their own dates.

Harry smiled as he and Luna continued dancing even when the first song was completed.

"Having fun?" Luna teased as she was spun around and brought back in.

"Oh, yes, very much so. I definitely made the right choice," Harry said as they moved as one around the floor, "Beautiful and interesting."

Luna smiled, her eyes sparkling.

They danced for a couple more songs, before Harry led her out to sit for a bit, "I'll go get us some punch, you go find us some seats," he said in her ear.

Luna nodded.

Harry ran a hand through his hair as he went to the punch table, he picked up two glasses; he floated them by his side, as he decided to get some snacks as well. He got a couple of sweets and some crisps arranged on a plate, he caught the glasses in one hand and the plate in the other. He looked to see where Luna was and found her sitting in the back at one of the tables that were set before a Christmas tree.

He made his way to the back and handed Luna a glass, before setting the plate and his own glass down.

"Thank you," Luna said as she gratefully took a sip.

Harry nodded, settling in to his own seat. They sat just listening to the music and letting their own heartbeats calm down.

"I was half thinking Fleur would come alone," Luna commented.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, did you see when Ron practically screamed at her?" Harry snickered.

Luna looked at him, finally taking her eyes off the dancers and facing Harry, "No, but I heard a little about it, did you?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I was heading to the common room and, apparently, Ron wanted to ask Fleur out, so he went up to her in the Entrance Hall when she was with all her friends, and at first he just mumbled something, then when she told him to speak up, he literally shouted 'Will you go to the ball with me?' and his spit got on her face, then he stood there waiting for an answer," Harry said, snickering.

Luna laughed, "Oh, that's too funny, but he must've been so embarrassed!"

"He was, after Ginny pulled him away, he finally realized what he had done, and ran to the common room. I feel sorry for him," Harry said, shaking his head.

"You do?" Luna asked curiously.

Harry sighed, "Yeah, even if he had turned his back on me, he doesn't deserve getting so humiliated," Harry leaned back in his seat, "You know, I was going to take him back after some time, even if he did betray me, but after what he said in the Great Hall and then when he went back to throwing taunts at me because I wouldn't take him back, I just-," Harry shook his head, "Never mind."

Luna smiled softly, "You don't need to justify yourself Harry, you did what anyone else would have done, Merlin, anyone else would have done far worse to him."

Harry smiled, "Thanks Luna.

"So, did you listen to the gossip about us?" he teased.

Luna gasped, pretending to be offended, "Of course I did, who do you take me for?"

Harry laughed, "So?"

Luna grinned, "Apparently, you are one of the hottest guys at the dance and every girl wishes to be on your arm."

Harry looked mock offended, "Only one of the?"

Luna grinned, "Cedric Diggory, Viktor Krum, Draco Malfoy, and Blaise Zabini; not necessarily in that order."

Harry pouted.

"But you are the cutest of the five, just not the sexiest," Luna said.

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"I know."

"Well, what about you, Miss Moonshine?"

Luna's eyebrows rose up.

"Luna, silver, silver robes, moon," Harry explained in a bored voice.

Luna made an 'Oh!' expression as she realized what he was talking about, "I got a lot of compliments," she said delightedly.

"Thank you, Harry," Luna said sincerely.

"For what?"

"For being my friend," Luna said.

Harry smiled, "Then I should thank you too, for being my friend as well."

Luna shook her head as a genuine smile lit up her face.

Hermione huffed as she walked over, "You two are so sappy!"

Harry grinned, "Hey! You had your sappy moment with her, it was my turn now."

"And you couldn't have done it at another time?" Hermione asked incredulously.

Luna laughed at that, "It's true you know."

"Hey! You're my date, you're supposed to be on my side!" Harry said pouting.

Luna shrugged as Hermione giggled.

"So, where's your partner?" Luna asked.

"Viktor went to get us drinks," Hermione said.

"Viktor? That's it?!" Harry teased, "I thought you would've been calling him Vick or Vicky by now, shame on you Her-mi-o-niny."

Luna burst out laughing as Harry said Hermione's name, Harry who'd had a mock-disappointed face until then, made the mistake of looking at Luna and started laughing, too.

Hermione swatted at his head and Luna's arm, "Shut it you two!"

The evening continued in this manner with the four of them joking and going out to dance at random times, with Hermione trying to teach Viktor how to pronounce her name, which made Harry and Luna laugh silently.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

|Letter|

Hey Pup,

I hope this letter finds you in good health; we need to talk face-to-face, meet me in the cave near Hogsmeade on the 27th.

Snuffles

P.S. Bring lots of food.

|Letter End|

' _Damn!'_  Harry sighed,  _'Stupid Sirius, if he isn't careful, he's going to get caught!'_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry used the time-turner to go back 12 hours; after he was sure it was done, he tucked the gold chain back under his shirt and threw on his invisibility cloak. He opened the Marauder's Map and saw his past self outside in the snow with four other dots. Harry, Luna, Fred and George where all playing outside and trying to get Hermione to join in.

Harry smiled; he slipped out from the second floor bathroom and walked to the statue of the one-eyed witch.

"Dissendium," Harry whispered, tapping the head with his wand. It shrank back and allowed him to go through. He hurried through the passage and up to the Honeyduke's cellar. He made his way quietly out of the shop and up the hill to the caves.

"Snuffles!" Harry grinned as a big black dog launched itself at Harry, nearly knocking him down, but at the last moment, Harry spun on his feet to keep his balance.

Snuffles barked happily, then led him deeper in to the cave. When he was going to shift back, Harry shook his head, "Wait a minute."

Harry turned around and waved his wand, all the while hissing out spells in Parseltongue, creating a barrier of notice-me-not charms, anti-eaves-dropping spells, and wizard-and-muggle-repellant wards. The Parselmagic books in Slytherin's study were packed with a lot of knowledge and he'd spent almost everyday since he'd found them, practicing until he'd gotten them right.

Harry nodded to Sirius, who shifted back immediately.

"Hey pup!" Sirius said.

Harry laughed, "Hey Siri. Dobby!"

Dobby appeared and with a snap of his fingers, a feast was laid out before them. He bowed at the teen and disappeared.

"You have a house-elf?" Sirius asked, looking at the food.

"Eat, Siri. Yes, I found out this summer that he bonded himself to me after I freed him from Lucius Malfoy," Harry explained.

"Sirius, can you do me a favor?" Harry asked, deadly serious. Sirius looked up, sensing Harry's mood.

"What is it, pup? You know you can ask me anything," Sirius said.

"Go to Potter Manor, I know you're keyed in to the wards there. The wards are ancient there, I've spoken to the goblins about it, and they said that Potter Manor has one of the best wards in England. You'll be safe there. You'll have a warm meal three times a day and clean clothes, and to ensure that the house-elves there will accept you; you can take Dobby with you. His uniform should be proof that I sent him. If not, I can get some veritaserum for you and you can prove yourself that way," Harry said, he continued when he saw Sirius opened his mouth, "And the wards extend far in to the grounds, so you'll be able to go outside."

"But what about you? I can't just leave you!" Sirius finally said.

Harry shook his head, "Siri, I'm fine. I'm at Hogwarts, and frankly, I don't like worrying over you. And this way, I can speak to you every night through the floo if you'd like."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "And how would you do that?"

"I have an apartment in my trunk that's connected to the floo, and before you ask, no I can't let you live in there, for one, my password is in Parseltongue and I don't know how to change it; two, sneaking you in and out would be much harder, especially as no one knows I have an apartment in my trunk; three, Merlin, there are so many ways that you could be caught, especially with the Ministry, not to mention, the Minister himself, will be in Hogwarts for the Tournament. There are millions of things that could go wrong, not to mention the least of the problems is you getting bored and deciding to go exploring," Harry said, ticking off a finger for each reason.

Sirius sighed, "Alright, I'll go to Potter Manor. Now, tell me all about what's been happening."

Harry grinned and told Sirius everything, from the judges reaction to him using the summoning charm to the dance lessons McGonagall had them take. He talked about Ron being embarrassed by McGonagall to him screaming at Fleur, then all about his night at the Yule Ball and how much fun he'd had with Luna, Hermione, and Krum. Though, he didn't mention that he had learned the dark arts as well as Parselmagic, however he was sure that Sirius already had his suspicions on the latter, the cave wards for one thing, but Sirius never asked, and Harry didn't bring it up.

When asked to show how he did his rose trick, Harry made a rose appear for Sirius, "I practiced a lot to get it right, at first it was just pushing things around and making things float, then I moved on to the spells learned in first year, and so on, after that, I started thinking about making stuff appear, I'd seen it often enough. So I started with small things, slowly I made them a little bigger, then I added details to it, and finally, I had to make it stay for more than a couple of minutes," Harry explained as Sirius examined the rose.

"I still haven't gotten the hang of it yet, and I still have trouble, but there are some things I can do, but it takes a lot out of me if I do any of the big things."

"This is really complicated work, Harry," Sirius complimented, then frowned, "Harry, how exhausted do you get when doing this?"

Harry frowned, "Well in the beginning I used to get really drowsy, then later on, just really, really tired as I moved on."

Sirius' forehead crunched, "That doesn't seem right. When you were little, you could make things zoom around with little to no effort, it drove your parents wild," Sirius smiled in remembrance, but snapped out of it, "What I'm saying is, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be having this much trouble."

Harry hummed, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"Why don't you get the goblins to do a cleansing ritual on your magical core?" Sirius suggested after awhile.

Harry looked surprised, "They do that? I thought they only ran the bank."

Sirius nodded, "They do run the bank, but they're also in charge of curse-breaking and wards; which can be on a building or a person. If there is a bind on your magic, like I think there is, then they'll be able to help."

Harry nodded, "I'll do that before the next task, then."

"What is the next task? Have they told you?"

Harry shook his head, "No, they gave us a clue in the form of a golden egg, which when opened, makes a terrible shrieking sound." Harry sighed.

"Banshee?" Sirius asked.

Harry shrugged, "That's what I'm beginning to think, either that or harpies."

After they had eaten and spent some time laughing, Sirius' smile dimmed, "Don't you have to go back, pup?"

Harry smiled and shook his head, "No, I have a 12-hour time-turner, I've already lived the day once, so now I can spend the whole day with you!"

Sirius grinned happily, then blinked, "Why do you have a time-turner?"

"Oh, it's for my classes, I'm taking four electives, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination. Although I want to drop Divination, as it really is a waste of time, but if I do, I won't be able to keep the time-turner and Muggle Studies will be even more boring," Harry explained.

Sirius nodded, "Makes sense, and I agree, Divination is a waste. However, you said it was a 12-hour one? When are you sleeping?"

"Oh, well when I wake up, I spend the whole day using the time-turner for classes, then I use the time-turner to go back to the beginning of the day and then take a nap for about two-three hours then I do all my homework and stuff, then I go to sleep at night again."

Sirius whistled, "You should make sure there aren't any adverse effects because of your use of the time-turner."

Harry nodded, "I'll have to ask McGonagall, I hadn't even thought there would be any effects. By the way, I need your help with something," Harry said, he reached in to his robes and pulled out a book and Sirius' eyes widened at the title.

"No way! You're learning to be an animagus?" He asked, delighted.

Harry grinned, "Yeah, but I need someone with me to do the second step."

Sirius eyes lit with recognition, "Ah, the first time transformation spells. Yeah, I know how to do it, I was the one who did the spells for James, and James did them for me, he was great at Transfiguration."

Harry nodded, "So do you remember the spells?"

Sirius nodded, "Let me just make sure, though. I know the spell to turn an animagus back to human form, but I'm not sure if I remember the other one."

Once Sirius had found the page, he quickly read through it, memorizing the spells, "Ready?"

Harry nodded as he stood up.

Sirius cast the spell to force the animagus change on Harry.

Harry felt pain spread throughout his body and his bones shift, fur appeared on his body and his mouth elongated and his canines grew. As suddenly as the pain started, it stopped.

Sirius grinned at the cute creature that stood before him. It was a black wolf cub, about two feet tall, it had green eyes and there was what seemed like the lightning bolt scar under the fur on his forehead, but it was only noticeable if you were specifically looking for it. His tail was two different colors, the top of it was a very dark green and the rest was a pure black, like the rest of his fur.

Harry let out a small whine as he spun around trying to see what he looked like.

Sirius, still grinning, conjured a mirror for him. Harry barked out a thank you, but it came out as a yip.

"Well, aren't you just the cutest thing ever," Sirius said amused.

Harry growled, but Sirius only laughed. Harry walked around the cave towards the shadows and disappeared.

Sirius' eyes widened, "Harry! Harry, where are you?"

A yip came from his left and Sirius whirled around, his eyes wide and mouth open.

He gaped, "I'm going to cast the spell to turn you back…" Sirius said faintly, eyes still wide.

Harry laughed at Sirius' expression, "Yeah I was surprised to find out my form was a Shadow Wolf, too, but I was mostly sleepy."

"Oh, we were all pretty sleepy after that," Sirius chuckled.

"How come I'm so small, though? I saw a fully grown wolf in my meditation," Harry asked frowning.

Sirius grinned, "The meditation shows if you have a form and what you'll look like when you're fully grown. Don't worry, we were all small."

Harry grinned, "Does that mean when you first transformed, you were a puppy?"

Sirius scowled, "…No."

Harry laughed.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ok, I'll be heading off to Potter Manor, but listen," Sirius said, as Harry was putting his invisibility cloak back on to sneak back in to the school, "You know there are mermaids in the black lake, right?"

"Really?" Harry asked curiously.

Sirius nodded, "Try opening the egg underwater."

Harry's eyes narrowed in contemplation and he nodded, "Thanks Siri. I'll send Dobby with you."

Sirius nodded.

"Dobby!" Harry called, "Listen, I need you to go to Potter Manor with Sirius." He continued giving the elf specific instructions and then waited for the elf to nod, before watching Sirius go off, probably going to find Buckbeak before heading to the Manor.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason for Harry's animagus form:
> 
> I actually couldn't make up my mind if I should make it a mammal or a bird. At first I wanted to make it a fox, but it just wouldn't fit with Harry's personality. Then a black phoenix, but it was so cliché it wasn't even funny. Finally, I went online and took an animal quiz and chose answers pertaining to Harry as best as I could and got Hyena. Again, it didn't work for me. I took it again and got wolf and this was the explanation they gave:
> 
> You are the wolf. You like company, but don't mind being alone at times. You're usually calm, unless provoked or annoyed. You'll do anything to protect your family and friends if need be. You enjoy silence and are a bit mysterious at times. You can be a bit apathetic, but it suits your personality.
> 
> This seemed to fit Harry, but I also wanted Harry to be a magical creature, hence the shadow part, plus it worked with the "mysterious at times" part of the result. So there you have it.
> 
> Animagus Training:
> 
> JKR doesn't specify the steps to become an animagus, so I've made up my own. First is the potion to find out if you have a form and what it is. Second are the spells, so you can get a feel of the shift from human to animal. Lastly, the third step, is trying to transform on your own by using how you felt when the spell made you turn in to your animagus form.
> 
> Emerald: All right, that's it! Sorry for the late update. Also, now that I have uploaded all the chapters that were all ready written, updates will no longer come every week. They'll be either every two weeks to every month at the latest.
> 
> Comment/Kudo/Bookmark!!! I love you all!!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Japanese Key:
> 
> \- Rasen = Spiral
> 
> \- Biyoku = Tail

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

" **Parseltongue"**

_Harry Writing_

_Tom Writing_

_**SOUND EFFECTS** _

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry took a pinch of floo powder and threw it in to the fireplace in his apartment. Anorak had given him permission to floo directly in to his office, as he couldn't go through the Leaky Cauldron because it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend and he couldn't use Dumbledore's name again, or it would be suspicious.

"Gringotts, Anorak's Office. *Rasenbiyoku," Harry said the foreign word with only a little difficulty as he had been practicing, knowing he couldn't mess up the password. He knew the password would change after his use today; it was another security measure.

He stumbled out of the fireplace, which was the best he seemed to be able to do, and was greeted by Anorak's smirking face.

"Lord Potter," Anorak greeted.

"Anorak, is everything ready?" Harry asked.

Anorak nodded and led the way out of his office, "Yes. If there are indeed binds on your magic, we will be able to remove them, as well as any other suppressors. Usually wizards tend to go to St. Mungo's for this, but we offer a more complete analysis and we do it faster."

Harry understood, the goblins weren't as trusted, people were wary of them.

"Ah, well, only the best for me," Harry joked. Anorak grinned, which was a little scary, if Harry thought about it, which he'd rather not do.

He was led in to a stone chamber that had runes carved all over it, Harry walked up to one of the walls and examined it, he understood very few of them, but most others were a mystery. He wasn't too put off since he was only in his second year of Runes.

He noticed another goblin beside Anorak that he hadn't noticed before, too preoccupied with the walls, as he walked over to the duo.

"This is Raleik. He is the head of the ritual department," Anorak said, "I shall see you when you finish."

Harry nodded as Anorak left.

The next few minutes were spent with Raleik explaining what was going to happen. "Lay on your back, you must be divested of all clothing," Anorak instructed. Harry nodded and followed the goblin's instructions. Harry then had to drink a potion that looked like black sludge and tasted even worse.

"Don't gag now, it isn't that bad," Raleik said as he slit open Harry's arm and used the blood to draw runes on his palms, his navel, and his forehead, right over his scar.

Raleik started muttering something in Gobbledygook as he circled around Harry, who was lying in the center of a 7-pointed star that lay inside a circle, with the tips of each point just barely poking out of the circle.

Harry started to feel very heavy, a jolt of pain raced through him as his eyes slipped closed and his breathing evened out.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"-Potter."

Harry awoke to someone calling his name. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't feel them. He strained to open his mouth to talk, but nothing came out, he couldn't feel his mouth, either. He started to panic. He attempted to feel the other parts of his body, however, it was like his senses were gone, he couldn't feel anything.

"Lord Potter," Raleik called, "Listen to my voice, it will guide your mind. Relax and find your magic. Feel, as it spreads throughout your body and fills you, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes."

Harry calmed down after a few seconds, he relaxed completely and felt for his magic, finding it after a few moments, he let his magic out, filling his body and pushing outwards.

Harry snapped his eyes open with a gasp. He had never felt better before. His mind was suddenly a lot clearer and his magic…

He sat up, "Wow, my magic…"

Raleik nodded, "Yes, it seems that a little more than half of your magic was blocked off. The ritual took a shorter time than expected, because, if I am correct, you have started to practice wandless magic?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, but it's just floating some things and a couple of spells, I can also conjure small things."

Raleik nodded and continued, "Yes, it seems that the use had you unconsciously start to break the chains on your magic. Wandless magic is very complicated and an average wizard would need access to nearly half of their magic for any spells above first year at Hogwarts; that you managed to conjure things without full access to your core, shows how magically powerful you are. Of course, now that you have more magic, you will need to learn to control your magic better. Also, the bind on your animagus form was starting to break when you took the animagus potion and broke completely after you went through the spell-induced transformation."

Harry nodded, "Wow, I had no idea it was such a big deal. My parents and Godfather became Animagi in school and I thought it a useful skill to have. Is it possible to find out who put the constraints on my magic?"

"The binds put on a magical core usually reflect something that the person responsible for the binds, is most associated with. The color of the eyes, a signature engraved on the chains, the shape of an animal, in this case… the color of the chains on your core were a twinkling blue," Raleik said, knowing he didn't need to say more.

A bad feeling came over Harry when he heard that, "Are you positive?"

Raleik nodded, "There were also a few compulsion charms on your mind that were removed in the ritual, as they were powered by your magic. If they had not been linked to your magic, they would still be there, but I recommend seeing a mind-healer at St. Mungo's to make sure that all the compulsions are off, there may be some that are still there and not powered by your magic. Although, the ones found were mostly negated, I assume you were beginning to practice Occlumency?"

Harry's jaw clenched and he nodded tersely, "What were they?"

"There was one that enhanced your curiosity, one that dulled your self-preservation instinct, and lastly a compulsion to save anyone to the extreme and a feeling of guilt if you were unable to do so," Raleik said.

Harry sucked in a sharp breath as his magic swirled around him.  _'Does that mean I never would've gone to save Ginny? What about the stone? I-I couldn't have been- Was it all a lie?'_

He needed to be alone.

"Is everything complete?" Harry asked quietly.

Raleik nodded, "Yes, everything is done and the payment has also been given. Your clothes along with your wand and holster are in that box; you may use the floo in the other room to head back. However, Lord Potter, before you leave, you must know something," Raleik said, his tone deadly serious.

Harry looked at the goblin, he was reluctant to know more, but knew that he had to listen now or it may work against him at a later date, he nodded for him to continue.

"Do you know what a Horcrux is?"

Harry shook his head, the bad feeling from before coming back twice as hard.

"It is an object that holds a piece of someone's soul that has been ripped off the original by the act of killing," Raleik said, "It seems the mystery of the night Lord Voldemort was defeated is no longer a mystery, well not all of it, at least."

A chill went down Harry's spine.

"I believe that the night he tried to kill you, he was going to make another horcrux, however, something went wrong, perhaps the ritual was interrupted by another, but a piece of his soul that should have gone in to another object, instead, latched on to you, it resides where your scar is."

Harry blanched.

After he said that, Raleik took his leave, giving Harry a few moments to himself before he gathered his stuff and did the same.

"Prongslets' Shadow Pad, Padfoot," Harry said and vanished. There was much to think about.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

He paced in Slytherin's study. Questions gathering in his head, the most prominent was, why?

What did Dumbledore get out of doing this? Why do this at all? Why place binds on his magic? Why the compulsions? Why did Dumbledore never tell Harry what he was? Or did Dumbledore not know?

He remembered first year and all his thoughts on the task, they were ridiculously easy. He got that the tasks shouldn't have been too hard in case the other teachers needed to get to the stone quickly, but those tasks were a joke.

He still didn't know why Nicholas Flamel had given the stone to Dumbledore in the first place. He'd been protecting it for centuries and someone with centuries of knowledge could have protected the stone better than the Headmaster of a school.

In second year, the chamber was opened and the basilisk was let out. A basilisk that petrifies the victim if not looking it directly in the eyes, and kills if you look at it in the eyes; and there were only petrifications, that was suspicious in and of itself, not everyone could have been that lucky, should have been that lucky.

Also, the chamber was opened before, how come no one figured out what the monster was? He was pretty sure that there wasn't a spider that had those same characteristics, not to mention, students would have surely panicked if they'd seen a large spider.

And why had he gone to Lockhart? Why didn't he go to Snape? After all, he knew Snape wasn't incompetent and had saved his hide in first year during the broom incident. He had also knocked down Lockhart with a simple  _Expelliarmus,_ so what on earth had possessed him to go to Lockhart? Especially when he found out that Lockhart was a fraud, what stopped him from seeking out Snape?

Even if he didn't like Snape, surely he could've gone to Flitwick; he was supposed to be an excellent dueler. Although, perhaps he wouldn't have gone to McGonagall, he admitted he liked his head of house, but she didn't listen to him in first year, so she most likely wouldn't have listened to him that time, either.

The Chamber… Harry's eyes widened as something came to the forefront of his mind, he quickly sprinted out, to the exit behind Barnabas the Barmy and ran to the Gryffindor Common room. He ignored Hermione calling his name and ran up to his dormitory, where only Neville was.

"Nev, could you give me a moment? Just close your curtains, you don't have to leave," Harry said, panting a bit.

Neville raised an eyebrow but nodded and closed the curtains. Harry threw a locking charm at the door.

He tapped the sapphire,  **"Hedwig,"** he hissed quietly, so that the sound wouldn't reach Neville's ears.

He quickly moved the shelves until he found the dark arts shelf. He took out Tom Riddle's Diary and put it in his robes. He closed and locked his trunk once more.

"Thanks Nev," Harry said as he sprinted back down to the common room and out the portrait hole before anyone could say another word. He headed straight towards the second floor girl's bathroom and to the study once again.

He flipped open the book as he took out a quill and sat down.

_I know what you are._

_What? No hello? You have appalling manners._

_You're a Horcrux._

There was no reply for a few seconds, before ink started appearing once more.

_Reading books we aren't supposed to have, I see._

_No, actually, I went to the goblins for a ritual and they gave me some very… disturbing news._

_And what news would that be?_

_Actually, I don't think I'll tell you. I have my answer, no need to give you anything more._

Harry wrote then closed the book, not waiting for a response.

An epiphany came to him. He held a piece of the Dark Lord's soul. He was keeping said Dark Lord alive. All those years where Harry could have died…

' _Dumbledore is trying to kill me.'_

But why couldn't he have done it when he was a baby? Why let him live at all? Maybe he didn't want to do it himself, the old coot didn't want to get his hands dirty. But wait, if he had a piece of Voldemort's soul in him and the Diary was also a Horcrux, then could he have more?

He looked around, could Tom Riddle have found out about Horcruxes from here? Right here in Slytherin's study, there were hundreds of books, could one have told him about how to make one? If so, what about trying to find one? He looked at the Diary; it would be nice to have insurance if it was taken from him.

Unfortunately, he still had to figure out the clue from the golden egg and that had to take top priority for now. He had no wish to die in a stupid tournament.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry grumbled as he walked in to the common room, pulling off his invisibility cloak.

"Harry?"

Harry froze; he turned around to face the armchair by the barely lit fireplace.

Harry relaxed as he saw her, "Hermione? What are you doing up so late?"

Hermione held up a book, "I couldn't sleep, where've you been, why is your hair all wet, why do you have the egg with you, did you figure out the clue, yet?" She took a sniff and blinked, then sniffed again, "And why do you smell so…"

"Fruity?" Harry asked.

She shook her head, "It's a lot of scents mixed together, but it does smell nice."

Harry sighed and took a seat opposite the armchair Hermione was in, "Wizards are idiots."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Care to start from the beginning?"

"Right, so I've been talking to Snuffles, about the tasks and the clue, and he said to try listening to the egg underwater," Harry began, gesturing to the egg, "Turns out, I have to find a way to breathe underwater for an hour."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "How does that make wizards idiots?"

"The second task is going to be in the Black Lake in February," Harry deadpanned.

Hermione smiled sympathetically, "I see your point. What did the egg say when you opened it underwater? Exact wording, if you will."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Do you want me to sing it, too?"

Hermione shook her head, "No thank you, I wouldn't wish your singing on Voldemort."

Harry gasped, mock offended, "I'll have you know, I have the voice of an angel."

Hermione burst out laughing, "Just get on with it," she said.

"Fine, fine.

Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground.

While you're searching, ponder this,  
We've taken what you'll surely miss.

An hour long you'll have to look,  
To recover what we took.

Past an hour, the prospect's black,  
Too late it's gone, it won't come back."

Hermione blinked, "Wow, dramatic much?"

Harry snorted and fell limp in the chair, dropping the egg on the chair beside his.

"So, what are you going to do?" Hermione asked.

A yawn interrupted Harry before he could respond, "Apparently, I'm going to go to bed."

Hermione nodded, "Good night, then."

He stood up and stretched, "You should get some sleep, too. We only have one more day until term starts. We can figure out what to do tomorrow, I already have a small idea, but I need to confirm something first."

Hermione nodded and waved him on, "I'll go in a bit."

Harry shrugged, "Good night."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry looked over himself in the mirror, doing a final check, before heading out to the Black Lake where the school was gathered. He had decided to use runes to help him breathe underwater; he'd gotten the idea from a lesson by Professor Babbling, talking about connecting runes and a chat the day after the message from the egg was revealed, he knew that with Hermione's help he could connect a few of the runes to help him with the task.

However, it was much harder than expected. They were working with sixth year material, after all, and had Hermione not been with him, he had no illusions, that something would have been forgotten or he would've messed up somehow.

There were a series of runes for air and breath on his throat and on his lungs, right underneath his heart; a rune for warmth was placed in the middle of his chest, then a series of runes for sight were placed on the corner of each eye, and lastly, there were runes for a barrier placed around his nose and mouth, so he could speak underwater without getting water in his mouth. Hermione had drawn the runes on his face, but she was called away before she could finish, so he'd had to do it while looking in the mirror. It went slowly, because he knew he couldn't mess up. After he'd drawn the runes, he'd placed a spell on them to make sure they wouldn't be washed away or smudged. That done, he had turned in for the night.

"GOOD MORNING, WITCHES AND WIZARDS!" Ludo Bagman's voice boomed out over the stadium.

Harry tuned out the man's voice; instead he searched the crowd for Hermione and frowned when he couldn't find her. He smiled when Luna waved at him with Neville beside her, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Champions! On your marks!" Bagman's voice once again boomed, the four champions stripped out of their outer clothing, Harry, Krum, and Cedric were in swim trunks and Fleur was in a one-piece silver bathing suit.

_**BOOM!** _

Harry snapped his attention back as the other three champions jumped in, he prayed to whatever God was out there that the runes worked. He took out his wands and touched the tip of his wand to each series of runes and muttered, "Activate." The runes glowed as he took a deep breath and dived headfirst in to the water.

Harry slowly opened his eyes, he blinked a couple of times, letting his eyes get used to being in the dark water, he cautiously took a breath and grinned. It worked. He looked down on his chest and realized that the runes were still glowing a soft blue.

He swam deeper in to the lake, "Lumos," he whispered in to the deafening silence, a small white light floated beside his head, giving him enough light to see the landscape at his feet. He swam towards the middle of the lake, passing by small fish, muddy logs, and grindylows, which he sent spells after to keep them away from his feet.

"How are you doing so far?"

Harry jerked around, his heart beating erratically, eyes wide as he searched for the owner of the voice, his wand held out in front of him.

"Myrtle!" the name left his lips in a shout as the ghost floated before him.

The ghost giggled at his expression.

"Come," she said and she floated towards the middle of the lake with Harry following after her.

Soon enough, Harry could see a village in the distance, he grinned appreciatively, "Thanks Myrtle."

The ghost giggled and left.

Harry swam down towards the center of the village; he saw hundreds of merpeople swimming around, some were in the square, others were floating about elsewhere, talking and doing some other things. He caught sight of the hostages, his eyes widened when he saw four people strapped to four wooden poles with thick vines.

Hermione, Ron, Cho Chang, and a small blonde girl, who was probably Fleur's younger sister, were all floating in a deep sleep. Harry swam down to get Hermione, he pointed his wand at her bonds, "Diffindo," he murmured and the vines fell away.

He caught Hermione, before she could float to the ground. He looked at the other hostages, and then turned to one of the mermaids who were floating behind him, watching him.

"What happens if the other champions don't make it here in time?" he asked, he was sure Dumbledore and the others wouldn't risk the lives of students, but he needed to be absolutely sure.

"That is not your place to know," one of the mermen hissed, but Harry ignored him and looked at the mermaid, who had been cut off.

She scowled and pushed the other out of the way; she looked at him, assessing him, then finally spoke, "We will deliver them to the surface."

Harry nodded, relief in his eyes, "Thank you," he said sincerely.

The mermaid nodded and Harry swam towards the surface of the lake with Hermione in his arms.

He didn't see any of the other champions as he made his way to the surface. He looked at the comatose Hermione still in his arms and thought back to the other hostages, all the while still swimming.

Oh, he knew he was meant to rescue Ron, none of the other champions were meant to take him. Cedric would rescue Cho, Fleur would rescue her sister, and Hermione was meant to go with Krum. Still, he had taken Hermione, because he knew this was probably one of Dumbledore's schemes. A few days after the first task, Harry had been called to the Headmaster's office. He had been surprised to see that Ron was there as well and even more surprised to discover that Dumbledore had wanted to mend the friendship between him and Ron.

Harry shook his head as he saw the lake get lighter; he swam faster as he neared the top. With one last push, he broke the surface of the water with a gasp. He heard another gasp coming from behind him as Hermione's head broke the surface of the water and woke up.

They didn't say anything as they swam to the dock.

As they were about halfway there, a witch from the crowd noticed them and started shouting, which in turn gathered the crowd's attention, including Bagman's, "AND THERE IS MR. POTTER WITH HIS HOSTAGE!"

The crowd immediately erupted in cheers as Madame Pomphrey and one of her assistants helped him and Hermione on to the dock.

Madame Pomphrey cast drying and warming charms, then gave each of them a blanket. Harry quickly took out his wand and deactivated the runes with a simple tap to each series, and they stopped glowing, settling back down to a black color that stood out on his pale skin.

Hermione grinned; she waited until all the runes were deactivated and then hugged him, "Oh Harry! They worked! The runes worked!"

Harry grinned and hugged her back, "Of course they did, after all, the brightest witch of our age helped me out!"

Hermione blushed and smacked his arm as she saw the teasing glint in his eye.

"Mr. Potter."

Harry turned around to face Dumbledore, "Yes, Headmaster?"

"My boy, where is Mr. Weasley?"

Harry could see the other judges behind Dumbledore watching and listening closely. He twisted his expression in to one of confusion, "Sir? I don't understand. The clue in the egg said, 'something I will surely miss,' why should I have taken Weasley?"

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes was almost completely gone at his answer; Harry could faintly hear the other judges murmuring.

"I was of the assumption that you two were best friends, my boy," Dumbledore said, his eyes telling Harry that he wasn't pleased.

Harry shook his head, "No sir, Hermione is my best friend, that's why I rescued her. After all, I'd surely miss her if she were gone. The others do not mean anything to me. I would be sad if they died, but if I had to choose…"

Harry could see the anger in the Headmaster's eyes, and this time, he knew he wasn't imagining it. He narrowed his eyes in thought, why was it so important that he and Weasley remain friends? He'd have to keep a closer eye on the red-haired prat.

"Well, I see that you were mistaken Dumbledore," Ludo said, walking over to the trio, "I guess we should have used Ms. Lovegood after all."

' _Oh?'_  Harry thought.

"What do you mean, Mr. Bagman?" Harry asked, his curiosity picked.

Dumbledore opened his mouth to interrupt but Bagman continued on, ignoring the aging Headmaster.

"Now, there's no-"

"Oh, you see, we put in the name of each champion in to the goblet and it gave us four names. Since Krum was the first, he got Ms. Granger, then your name was put in and you got Ms. Lovegood, but the Headmaster convinced us to use Mr. Weasley. I see that we were wrong. I hope it won't be a problem for the other champions…" Bagman trailed off.

Harry could see the Headmaster trying to control the rage in his expression.

"Ah, I see. Well, I apologize, if I had known that the Headmaster would have misunderstood, I would've tried to straighten out the misunderstanding," Harry said, pretending to be sincere, although, both he and Dumbledore knew that it was anything but, however Bagman believed him, and for now, that was all that mattered.

"Ah, Harry, not to worry, we all make mistakes and it really wasn't your fault," Bagman patted his back and pulled Dumbledore back to the judges.

"I can't believe Dumbledore would interfere like that," Hermione said, her eyes on the two retreating figures. Harry jumped; he'd forgotten she was there.

"Yeah, well, it's not the first time the coot has put his nose in where it doesn't belong."

Hermione shook her head, but didn't reprimand him on his disrespect of the Headmaster, at least, not in this case.

Harry cocked his head, "Who do you think's going to end up rescuing Weasley?"

Hermione chuckled, "Everyone saw our fight in the Great Hall, I think it depends on whomever gets to the Hostages last."

Harry smirked, "I think Weasley's going to have to have one of the mermaid's deliver him to the surface instead."

Hermione shook her head thoughtfully, "Maybe not, I know Viktor will not want to be the one rescuing him, and Cedric has Cho. Fleur would certainly not be rescuing him, not after the fiasco in the Entrance Hall, but I suppose, for the sake of completing the tasks-"

"OH! AND IT SEEMS LIKE MS. DELACOUR HAS RETURNED WITHOUT HER HOSTAGE!" Bagman's shout broke through their conversation and they looked over to see Fleur getting pulled out of the water.

"Huh, it seems, you just might be right," Hermione said thoughtfully.

Harry cocked a brow, "Aren't I always?"

"Prat, you're starting to sound like Malfoy." Hermione giggled at Harry's horrified expression.

Another shout from the crowd drew their attention and they saw Cedric and Cho swimming towards the docks. They were helped up and given a blanket to warm up while drying and warming charms were cast on them.

Krum ended up rescuing Fleur's sister and, true to Harry's prediction, Weasley had to be delivered to the surface by a mermaid – coincidently the same one he had spoken to before – his face a new shade of red that was previously undiscovered, when he found out that no one had wanted to rescue him. Harry grinned while Hermione reprimanded him for making fun of Weasley, even if she also had a small smile on her face. Harry just threw her a knowing look; she huffed and turned to talk to Krum who was beside her after getting kisses from Fleur for saving her sister, a blush still lingering on his cheeks.

"The judges have now decided on the scores!" Bagman's voice bellowed out and captured the crowd's attention, quieting them within seconds.

"For Mr. Harry Potter's genius use of Ancient Runes for breathing underwater and having arrived five minutes before the time limit, while still being the first one to rescue his hostage, he gets a total of 48 points added to his score, bringing him up to 85 points in total!" Bagman shouted gleefully, the crowd gave a thunderous roar of approval. Harry noted that the two-point loss was actually because of Dumbledore. Hermione pounced on him and hugged him tightly as she squealed and congratulated him, all the while grinning happily. Harry beamed back.

"Next, Ms. Fleur Delacour, for using the Bubble Head charm, but failing to rescue her hostage and arriving after the time limit, she gets a total of 15 points from the judges, brining her score up to 53. After that, Mr. Cedric Diggory, for also using the Bubble Head charm, he successfully rescued his hostage, however, he arrived 15 minutes after the time limit, he gets 39 points added to his score, brining it up to 79 points in total!" The Hogwarts students cheered, giving the same response to Cedric as they did for Harry.

"Lastly, Mr. Viktor Krum! For using a partial shark transformation and successfully getting his hostage, but arriving 20 minutes after the time limit, gets a total of 38 points added to his score, brining it up to 78 points!" Bagman announced.

A rumble of cheers reverberated throughout the stands.

"That brings us to the end of the Second Task," Bagman continued finishing his speech.

"Champions, if you will stay for a moment," Bagman called before they could leave, once they were all gathered in front of him, he spoke, "Alright, now for the Third Task of the TriWizard Tournament, you will be informed of what it will contain exactly one month before the actual date, until then, you are all free to enjoy yourselves. So have fun and just relax for awhile," with that said, he waved good-bye and disappeared with a grin on his face.

They just blinked at the man, before they each hurried off to their respective dorms and parties.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry groaned as he banged his head on the book in front of him. So far he hadn't found anything on horcruxes in Slytherin's Study.

Harry closed the book and walked to the shelf, putting it back before he walked around, trying to think of what he could do. He could try going through each book, but there were hundreds of them and he didn't have that much time but… there was one other thing that he could do.

He gazed at the small black journal sitting innocently on the desk. The journal of one Tom Marvolo Riddle, also containing a piece of said person's soul. He debated on what he should do: on one hand, he was running out of time; on the other hand, the piece of the Dark Lord's soul which was contained in the diary could end up possessing him and then possibly join with the soul piece already inside of him and become even stronger. There was also the possibility that Tom wouldn't tell him anything, he was after all supposed to be his archenemy… but there was one thing!

He walked over to the desk and sat down, grabbing a quill, he flipped open the book.

_Hello Tom._

_Well, well, finally gracing me with your presence._

_I wasn't aware you required it._

_I don't. However, it seems that you do. What is it you want?_

_I want to know more about you. How did you come to be?_

There were a few seconds after he wrote, before writing once again appeared.

_Why, in Salazar's name, would I tell you?_

_Because I can destroy you. You forget, that it was because of me that you weren't destroyed before, however, I can easily do so now, nothing is stopping me from it._

_Nothing but your curiosity. You didn't destroy me before because you wanted answers._

Harry was surprised that Tom knew that, but the writing didn't stop.

_Didn't think I knew that? When you asked that bloody bird for more of its tears, I heard you. I may have been on the verge of destruction, but the few moments I spent as a corporeal form increased my magic slightly, just enough to hear what was going on outside._

Harry stiffened. Increased magic? If Riddle heard him back then, what about now, two years later? He looked closely at the part where his quill was connected to the page. His eyes widened as he felt a small part of his magic being siphoned off and pulled in to the book. He slammed the book shut and pushed it away, cutting off any physical contact he had with the book. There was no way he was going to be tampering with the book any more. If the whole Chamber of Secrets fiasco happened again, this time, there would be no one to stop Riddle from completely taking form, because this time, he would be the one that was being possessed.

He also didn't know the effect phoenix tears had on a horcrux. It had healed him of poisoning, but this was a piece of the soul, could it have more dire effects? Could it make it…stronger?

He stood up and walked around the study again. He stopped pacing and just stared at a section of the wall between two bookshelves,  _'I can't search all the books, there's simply not enough time.'_ As he stood there, his eyes caught on to something etched on to the wall. He peered closer in to the small space between the two bookcases, there, etched on to the stone wall, was Slytherin's symbol.

" **Open,"**  he hissed. He watched as the two bookshelves sunk in to the ground, revealing a sealed off stone arch. Just as he was about to hiss again, a voice spoke.

" **To advance, a riddle you must chance. If you answer incorrectly, a beast shall be set free."**

Harry realized the voice was speaking in Parseltongue.

" **The person who buys me does not need me; the person who makes me, does not want me; the person who uses me, cannot appreciate me. What am I?"**

A chill ran down Harry's spine as he thought about what it could be. Something that the buyer doesn't need, well if it's something that he doesn't need, why buy it? For someone else. Someone who couldn't buy it themselves. That could only happen if they were… dead.

A bad feeling overcame Harry as he hissed out the answer,  **"A coffin."**

" **Correct."**

He waited with baited breath as he heard what sounded as if a heavy lock was being opened. A quiet groaning sounded throughout the study, and perhaps the outer chamber as well.

The archway in front of him slowly opened, and it was similar to how the entrance to Diagon Alley was revealed. Brick by brick, it disappeared, leaving a narrow stone passage laid out before him.

Harry hastily pulled out his wand; holding it up, he slowly entered the passage, his footsteps echoing in the eerie silence. The first step inside, a torch lit up on his right.

He continued down the passage, every couple of feet, a torch would light up on either side of him. Soon, he came to the end of the passage and stepped in to a small, dimly lit, stone chamber. Harry gasped as he felt the magic in the chamber flow all around him. It was… beautiful. The magic swirled all around him, it entered him and filled him to the point he felt as if he was about to explode. He gasped, unable to breathe. He let his own magic out, in an attempt to fight the foreign magic. Then, suddenly, the magical pressure decreased, and he could breathe again. He looked around. The room was almost completely bare, except for a table that was situated in the middle of the room.

He walked towards it, feeling the magic pulling him, compelling him to go forward. He stood before the table and belatedly realized it wasn't a table he was looking at. A chill went down his spine as he realized that it was a coffin. It was a sleek black coffin with gold borders, and intricate markings on the sides. It had six sides, and on top of the glossy black lid, lay a single red rose surrounded by red rose petals. It looked like it had just been placed, instead of being placed hundreds of years ago.

Without warning, his hand reached out to open it. Harry panicked; he hadn't meant to move his hand! He felt the magic propelling him forward, whirl around him.

" **Open it,"** A voice hissed from around the chamber.

" **No!"**  Harry pulled away, stumbling away from the coffin, which he realized was the source of the magic.

" **Do you not want to know what is the true purpose of the Chamber of Secrets?"**

Harry paused,  _'the true purpose?'_

" **Yes, open it, and all your answers will be found."**

Harry moved forward, his dull green eyes fixed on the coffin, his hand reached out.

" **Yesss, open it, and all you wish for can be achieved. Everything that you want, you can have. Just, open it."**

Magic swirled around him as he touched the lid, a picture of his mum and dad smiled at him in his mind's eye. A picture of Sirius, laughing and smiling, the shadows of Azkaban no longer there, the haunted look in his eyes gone forever.

" **All my wishes,"** Harry hissed, his voice soft as if in a trance.

There he was, Harry, surrounded by his friends and family, no Voldemort, no Dumbledore. He was just Harry, just Harry, like he always wanted to be. No Dursleys, no beatings, no cupboards, no bars, no hunger.

" **Yes, just open it,"** the voice floated around him, enticing and seducing him. Oh, how he wanted to, he wanted it so much.

Dull green eyes reverted back to Avada Kedavra green and he pulled his hand away.

" **No. If you want to open it so badly, do it yourself!"** Harry hissed, turning around, his eyes landing on a portrait that was carefully made to blend in with the surrounding stones, so it looked like the regal wizard was painted directly on to the stone itself.

The wizard had glossy black hair that reached his shoulders, a black goatee, high cheekbones, and the most distinguishing feature: the eyes that were the color of a golden fire. He wore long flowing green robes that had gold and silver embroidery. On his hand, Harry recognized the ring he was wearing, it was the symbol of Slytherin.

"Well, well, I see that you aren't as weak of will as some of the others,"the portrait spoke again, this time in English.

"Others?"Harry asked, not sure if he wanted to know.

A malicious smirk appeared on the man's face.

"Now, who might you be?" The man asked, ignoring his previous question, "You are not an heir, although you speak."

Harry blinked, and belatedly realized his manners, "Hadrian Potter," he said, adding a small bow for good measure. He was sure that he was speaking to a Founder; it wouldn't do to get on his bad side.

"I suppose you know who I am," the man replied.

Harry could see the calculating gleam in his eyes, and wondered if this was another test, "Lord Salazar Slytherin, one of the Founders of Hogwarts."

A smirk appeared on his face, "Very good. The answers you seek must be very important if you found the symbol that led you here…" the portrait mused.

His brows drew together, "What do you mean?"

Slytherin looked at the boy standing before him, "How long have you been down in the study?"

Harry blinked at the question, but answered nonetheless, "About half a year."

"Think, how is it that you just found the symbol now? Did you not search the study when you first found it?"

Harry thought back to it and realized the Founder was right, "So it only appears if you really need to find something?"

"It only appears when you need to find answers," the old lord corrected, "Now, what is it that you seek answers for?"

"I… I need to find out more about Horcruxes," Harry said.

The Founder's eyes hardened as he heard what the boy was looking for, and he was reminded of another boy he had met, one that was looking for immortality.

"Why would you need to know that? Horcruxes are a very dangerous type of magic, one that even I, the darkest of all wizards, did not dare to tamper with."

"I found a horcrux in my second year, here," Harry spoke, he had a feeling that Slytherin would help him, and he never ignored his gut, "At first, I did not know what it was, then earlier this year, I went to the Goblins for a magic cleansing ritual and found out that…" Harry paused, he wasn't sure if he should go on. He wanted to keep that particular knowledge to himself.

"Continue," Slytherin commanded.

"I found out that I had a piece of my enemy's soul, here," he tapped his scar.

Suddenly, Slytherin put his hands on the canvas behind him and pushed, as if to come out of the stone. And come out he did. A ghost stood before Harry, but he wasn't colorless or silvery as the other ghosts were. He looked as if he was still alive, if not slightly transparent.

Harry gasped and stumbled away from the tall figure looming over him.

"H-how?"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emerald: Oh man, was this chapter hard to write! It's finally complete! Now, I'm going to take a break then go work on the next chapter. Second task happened in this chapter, I was planning on having the third task as well, but I didn't want to make this too long, so third task and regular Voldy will be coming next chapter.
> 
> Tell me what you think, you like the twist with the secret chamber in the secret study of the secret chamber?
> 
> Personally, there was going to be a box, but then I was like, nah, let's go with a coffin, more dramatic that way. I've been watching waaay too many vampire movies, and no, I'm not talking about the sparkling kind.
> 
> Comments/Kudos/Subscribers I love you all! Thank you for all your wonderful comments, they make my heart swell with joy!
> 
> Updates at TwistedMindOfMe – Guess what? I have a twitter! That's right, now you can follow me on there to get updates on my stories, random rants, and my general musings on life. You can follow me at TwistedMindOfMe, my name on there is also Emerald Time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emerald: Happy Holidays!!! I hope you all have a great time celebrating any holidays that come up and if you don’t celebrate anything, I hope you’re having a wonderful winter break!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; do not sue me.
> 
> Pairings: Still haven’t decided.
> 
> Read 1 –> Dumbledore’s point of view goes back in time to the evening of the second task. When I switch back to Harry, it will have been a week after the second task.
> 
> Read 2 –> Oh! One more thing, I made a slight mistake with the Peverell ring last chapter. That wasn’t supposed to be there. Peverell came after the Founders (according to the HP wiki), so I went back and fixed that.
> 
> Read 3 –> Oh, and I also uploaded a picture of Slytherin’s coffin to my DeviantArt account, link is on my profile.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Talking”

_‘Thinking’_

**“Parseltongue”**

_Harry Writing_

_ Tom Writing _

**_‘Disembodied Voice’_**  

**_SOUND EFFECTS_**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ **

Dumbledore paced in his study. He had just now been able to get away from the judges after his “mistake” of mixing up the hostages. He growled, _‘How dare that brat make me look like a fool?’_

His magic lashed around the room, making the windows shudder. He inhaled slowly and made himself calm down, reining his magic in; he sat in his chair, resting his chin on his interlocked fingers, a deep frown settling on his features. Could the compulsions he had placed on the boy be wearing off? After all, he had placed them before the boy had come to Hogwarts.

_~Flashback~_

_“…The others do not mean anything to me. I would be sad if they died, but if I had to choose…”_

_~Flashback End~_

The compulsion would not have let the boy be so flippant with the hostages’ lives. It could not have worn off so easily as it was powered by the boy’s magic. Perhaps it had grown weaker because the boy’s magic may have started fighting it when he started to actively use his magic?

Dumbledore frowned, “Perhaps I’ll strengthen the bind on his magic a little more and a few more compulsions would perhaps be for the better…” he murmured.

It would make the boy easier to control. He hummed in thought, but at the same time, he couldn’t make the boy in to a mindless puppet, while beneficial, it would turn too many heads towards him. He had to be careful; perhaps it had been a fluke; a temporary lapse in the bind, after all, the boy had shown no signs of this when he was put through the tests in the last three years. He would wait and see for now.

Everything had to go as planned, it was for the greater good.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“H-how?” 

Harry’s eyes were wide with shock and his mouth hung open as Salazar Slytherin _stepped out_ of his portrait.

A smirk appeared on the man’s face, “That never gets old. Close your mouth boy, it’s rude.”

Harry’s jaw snapped shut, making a loud sound in the otherwise silent room.

“Now, before I answer your questions, you must open this,” Slytherin said, gesturing to the coffin.

Harry instantly grew wary, “Why?”

He could still feel the tempting magic coming from the coffin. It wasn’t hostile anymore; it was just there, flowing gently around him.

“It is a test, if the magic accepts you, I’ll help you, if it doesn’t, well,” a malicious smirk crossed Salazar’s face, “you won’t need my help then.”

Harry’s eyes widened at the insinuation.

“What do you mean, exactly?” He asked warily.

Salazar raised a brow, “If you want my help, open the coffin, otherwise, you can leave. For a Gryffindor, you sure don’t have a lot of bravery,” he eyed the symbol of Gryffindor on the boy’s robes.

Harry’s eyes narrowed, “I may be a Gryffindor, but nowhere does it say bravery is the same thing as stupidity.”

Salazar chuckled and his eyes had a gleam of interest in them, “Oh? Regardless, according to the rules we Founders abide by, you must complete this test.”

Harry perked up, “Founders? As in, you aren’t the only one here?”

The look Slytherin gave him, told Harry clearly that should he want his questions answered, he would have to open the coffin.

Harry sighed and turned to look at the coffin. He let his own magic out, trying to see if it reacted violently, but the magic didn’t react at all. Harry frowned and gazed out of the corner of his eye, trying to see any hidden deception coming from the Founder, but Slytherin was simply leaning against the wall waiting on him.

Harry hesitated, before he decided that he had to, Voldemort was out there and even Dumbledore, both were out for his life, and having a Founder on his side would definitely put him on a more level playing field. No matter how crappy his life had been before Hogwarts, he wanted to live, damn it!

Harry strode over to the coffin; he stretched out his hands towards the wide side of the coffin. He hesitated briefly, as he felt for the magic, which still hadn’t changed. He hesitantly pushed; the lid slid open silently, revealing a bright green light, causing Harry to close his eyes. When it was almost halfway open, the bright green light engulfed his body.

A scream ripped from Harry’s throat, echoing around the silent chamber, masking the thud of Harry’s body and the slam of the top as it dropped on to the floor beside the coffin. Harry writhed on the stone floor as pain, like he’d never imagined, consumed his mind, burning through his veins and setting his heart on fire. His skull felt as if it would shatter in to a million pieces, but more than that, his heart… _hurt_. He felt the betrayal from Dumbledore and Ron, the hatred of the Dursleys, the resentment of Voldemort for taking away his parents, amplified a thousand times, draining him and turning him in to an emotional mess.

He never noticed the tears that slid down his cheeks as he drowned in the pain.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Salazar Slytherin simply looked at the child screaming on the floor and shook his head; with a wave of his hand, he wordlessly cast a silencing charm on the kid. He did not feel like getting a headache, which the screaming would definitely bring, especially since the stone walls made the boy’s screams louder.

He leaned against the wall, waiting to see if the kid would come out alive, he rather hoped so, it was getting a little boring for him and he wanted some excitement.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_'Stop!’_ Harry screamed in his mind, the incredible pain seemed to get stronger.

**_‘Do you want to end it?’_ **

_‘Yes! No more! Please!’_ Harry arched his back as a particularly harsh wave of pain travelled down his spine. He didn’t know how he could think with all the pain, but he didn’t particularly care, he just wanted the pain gone, the emotional even more than the physical. 

**_‘No more pain? To give it all up, the pain, the sadness? Is that what you want?’_ **

_‘Yes!’_

The pain was lessening, or perhaps he was just getting used to it… What was happening? The pain stopped as soon as it had started. 

Abruptly, a sense of peace overcame him. He felt all his stress wash away, his muscles relaxing, and he felt…content.

**_‘Is this what you want?’_**

_‘Yes…’_

**_‘Then give up, let it all go, and you can have this… Let go…’_**

_‘Let go?’_ He didn’t understand.

**_‘Give up your life…’_ **

_‘My… life?’_

**_‘No more worries, no more pain, no one to betray you, no one to hate you,’_** the contentment lasted for a few more seconds before a jolt of pain dragged him out of his daze, suddenly the feeling of contentment was gone, leaving only cruel pain behind. Another harsh jolt of pain made his whole body arch off the stone, Harry’s screams grew louder as the pain consumed his mind once more.

**_‘If you choose death, the pain will go away. You will be content again.’_**

_‘Content?’_ The pain racing through him dulled for a bit, but only enough for him to think, Harry wanted nothing more than to be content, no one would miss him, anyways, right? The Dursleys stood out in his head, grinning as they looked at his corpse, but they faded and, instead, a picture of Hermione flashed in his mind, of her… crying, and she was looking at his corpse lying on the ground. Behind her was Luna, her own eyes filled with tears. No, he didn’t want that. He didn’t want his friends to cry.

He remembered all the times he had been happy, laughing with Hermione and Luna, flying, catching the snitch in his first game, sure, his life hadn’t been easy, but that was no reason to give up.

_‘No!’_

No. He wasn’t going to die. Not here, by some obscure magic, he lived through the Dursleys’; he went through the trials in his first three years at Hogwarts and came out on top. And these last two trials of a tournament meant for wizards that are of age? If they didn’t kill him, this certainly wouldn’t. What would Hermione say? He mentally smiled; he could hear her in his head, scolding him for doing something reckless again.

_‘I won’t die!’_

He wrapped his magic around himself to push the foreign magic out, but just as he started to fight back, the pain receded; instead warm hands wrapped around him, easing his tired muscles and relaxing him, the feeling of contentment didn’t come back, but his mind did not feel the emotional turmoil the magic had induced.

**_‘Your conviction is great. Even knowing what could await you if you chose death, you chose to live, to go through unimaginable pain, because of your friends. You are worthy.’_**

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Salazar looked on in interest as the boy wrapped his magic around himself; his body froze, as the green light became thick tentacles that wrapped around him in a gentle hug, healing him, yet also restraining him. 

_‘It looks like dear Hogwarts has accepted him,’_ he thought happily, _‘I won’t be bored anymore!’_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry’s eyes slowly opened, revealing glazed emerald orbs. He felt…relaxed. Where was he? He could feel something hard under him, was he on the ground? He felt something wet on his cheeks, he lifted a hand to his face. He blinked as his hand came away wet, had he been crying? 

“Will you be getting up anytime soon?” A voice drawled out, sounding bored.

Harry’s eyes widened and came back in to focus. Memories of what had happened came rushing back to him. He jumped up and swayed on his feet, he staggered a little, before finally grasping the stone wall and sliding back down to sit, he quickly wiped at his cheeks and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Harry frowned and opened his mouth to talk once more, but before he could, Slytherin spoke up, “My bad, I forgot to end the silencing spell.”

With another wave, Harry could speak once more.

“You put a silencing spell on me?” Harry asked incredulously. Surprisingly, his throat wasn’t raw, but he supposed the warm feeling had healed him at the end.

Slytherin made no move to help the staggering body before him, instead he said, “Your screaming was going to give me a headache. Now, what questions do you have?”

Harry ignored Slytherin’s question, instead he looked up and glared at him as his head stopped spinning, “Gee, nothing says like you care like a silencing spell. Why didn’t you tell me about the pain?”

Salazar shrugged, “If you wanted care, you should’ve unlocked Helga and it was a test, I’m not supposed to tell you anything about it. Anyways, it is different for everyone, it tests you based on your goals, to see if you would give up when it gets tough, or what you would do once you have accomplished your goal.”

Harry got up, still glaring; he stalked up to the ghost, “You-”

He stopped. His finger was poking the ghost in the chest. Cautiously, he put a little more pressure on the ghostly chest in front of him; a ripple appeared on the chest and, with a bit more pressure, his finger pushed through and the same ice-cold feeling washed over his fingers as with regular ghosts, but it felt different at the same time.

“What the-” Harry looked on bewildered, his finger felt as if it was surrounded by jello, ice-cold jello. He pulled his finger out and poked the ghost again. There was a slight resistance before his finger went through once more.

“Are you quite done?” Slytherin asked, his tone expressing his annoyance, “Isn’t there something that you need to do, besides push your finger through my chest?”

Harry blushed and hastily pulled out his finger and stepped back, “Er, right. Let’s get back to the study…” he said distractedly, still eyeing the ghostly chest in front of him, his previous rage temporarily forgotten as questions raced through his mind.

Slytherin sighed, “Are you not forgetting something?”

Harry looked up, finally tearing his gaze away from the Founder’s chest, “What?”

Slytherin looked annoyed now, “Put the lid back on the coffin, you dolt.”

Harry blinked, before finally turning and looking behind him, “Oh.”

He walked over to the coffin, but paused halfway there, “It’s not going to hurt again, is it?”

Slytherin shook his head, “No, the test is complete, you were deemed worthy.”

Harry nodded and walked over to the open coffin. He had many questions whirling in his head, but he forgot about them as a gasp left his lips and his eyes widened at the image before him. He hadn’t known what to expect once he saw the inside, he would expect a body, but this was…

Inside, the coffin was cushioned with dark green velvet, outlined in silver, and there, lying on top of the dark green velvet, was the body of Salazar Slytherin.

He had long shoulder-length black hair that surrounded his head; his gold eyes were open, staring at seemingly nothing. He was dressed in robes of dark green with a silver chain and clasp, he didn’t have on a shirt and Harry could see the coiled black snake with green eyes tattooed on his left pectoral muscle and the clearly defined muscles on the Founder’s abdomen. Below the waist, he was dressed in black trousers and black dragonhide boots.

However, that hadn’t been what had caught his attention, along the length of the body, there were tubes made of magic that were pumping something in to Slytherin’s body. The tubes had a silver glow on them, but the liquid inside was a dark gray, almost as if it was… tainted. Whenever the tubes connected where clothing was supposed to be, holes surrounded the tubes exposing patches of skin and the edges of the cloth showing signs of being burnt away.

“This is…” Harry whispered, unable to tear his gaze away from the body before him.

Salazar floated over to him, his face expressionless as he gazed upon his body, “Yes, this is my body, at my prime.”

“What,” He swallowed, “What are those tubes?”

“That is the magic that keeps my body from aging. They pump a… mixture in to my body mixed with magic that helps the body process the formula, so even in death, the body is still technically living.”

Harry’s eyes widened even more at the information, “Is that why…?” He gestured with his hands towards his chest.

Slytherin nodded, “Yes, that is why this form puts up a resistance when you push through. However, as you’ve noticed, I _am_ dead, my soul no longer resides within my body, so with enough pressure, you can pierce through.”

Harry nodded, “Did… Did you want this?”

Slytherin smiled bitterly, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, “No.”

Harry looked up in to the eyes of the ghost beside him, what he saw, took his breath away. Although Slytherin’s face gave away no emotion, his eyes were filled with sadness.

“It’s a curse, isn’t it?” Harry asked; the bitter look in Slytherin’s eyes giving him his answer.

Slytherin turned, his voice cold, “Float the lid back on the coffin and let’s go. Or I might just change my mind about helping you.”

Harry glanced at the ghost once more, but nodded nonetheless, “Alright.”

Harry called upon his magic, gathering it in his hand, he waved it towards the lid and gently floated the lid up, he carefully lowered the lid, making sure not to drop it suddenly. The lid closed with a **_fwump_** , a green light sealing the coffin once more.

Harry looked behind him and noted that the ghost was already floating towards the study. He hurried along to follow him. The chamber sealing shut behind him once more. One thing was clear, if there were more Founders – which was likely to be true as Slytherin mentioned waking Helga Hufflepuff – then they were also cursed like Slytherin. The question was: why would anyone curse the Founders of Hogwarts? And, more importantly, who was powerful enough to do so?

They didn’t speak as they continued their journey through the tunnels; eventually they arrived at the door to the study. Slytherin showed him which stone to press to gain entrance.

“Now, what questions do you have?” Slytherin asked, once they were both seated.

Harry’s face turned from pensive to seriousness as he looked at Slytherin.

“Horcruxes. I need to know everything about them. What consequences they have on a person, how many can you make without them affecting you, can they be rejoined in to one soul, and can you locate other horcruxes of the same person if you have one of their horcruxes?”

“First, tell me why you want to know about horcruxes. They are a foul magic, most knowledge of them was destroyed for a reason,” Slytherin said.

Harry sighed, “I didn’t know that the knowledge about horcruxes was destroyed and I don’t know how Voldemort found out about them, but he created more than one, I know that for sure, but let me start from the beginning, with the war against the dark and light.”

Slytherin nodded and Harry begun. He told him about the war raging between the dark and light, their supposed ideals, what he had found on Voldemort before he had vanished, all the deaths, the torture, the fear. He told him about what happened when he was a baby, Voldemort’s death, then his years at Hogwarts, and how he encountered Voldemort each year. He told him about the diary and how he found the horcrux in his scar. When he finished, Slytherin was quiet, processing everything that he had just been told.

“A horcrux splits your soul in half, to do this, you must commit the ultimate crime, to kill an innocent in cold blood. There is a ritual which you must prepare for before this happens.”

Harry cocked his head, “A ritual?”

Slytherin nodded, “Yes, a powerful ritual. Not many things can interrupt a horcrux ritual. From what I have gathered, your mother must have performed a dark ritual that used her sacrifice as a shield, which interrupted the horcrux ritual and made it backfire, and the backlash of the interrupted ritual destroyed Voldemort’s body. However, the backlash wasn’t either fast enough or it wasn’t strong enough. While it destroyed the object the soul would go in to, it did not destroy the piece of soul itself and the soul must have latched on to you as the only other powerful magical ‘object’ in the room. The backlash may have lost much of its power since Voldemort’s body was destroyed and it may not have had enough power to destroy the small soul piece as well, or the soul piece was fast enough in latching on to you, that it used you as a shield, creating that scar.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “My scar?”

Slytherin nodded, “Usually when an object is made in to a horcrux, it does not have any physical markings. Your scar may be the result of your own magic trying to protect you by destroying the soul piece inside of you.”

Harry hummed in thought.

“However,” Slytherin continued, “this is all just a theory, nothing like this has ever happened before.”

Harry grimaced at that.

“Is there anyway to locate the other horcruxes? Any way to find out how many there are in total?” Harry asked.

Salazar hummed and got up from his chair, walking over to one of the bookshelves, he examined the books on the topmost shelf carefully.

“If I remember correctly…” he murmured.

A question popped in to Harry’s head, “Um, Sir?”

Slytherin turned, an eyebrow raised.

“Er, since we’ll be working together, what should I call you?” Harry asked feeling awkward.

Slytherin turned back to his search while he answered, “Salazar will do since I’ll be helping you and while I would prefer Lord Slytherin, it is entirely too long.”

Harry nodded, “Okay… Salazar.”

“Here it is…” Salazar said after a few moments of silence, a ghostly finger pointing to a small thin book with a faded plum color. Harry walked over to stand beside the Founder, “The information about horcruxes is in that book?”

Salazar shook his head, “No, you need to push that book in.”

Harry cocked his head, “I thought you could pick up things?”

Salazar nodded, “Yes, but with enough resistance I go through the object. I made sure the book would need a heavy push to unlock the chamber behind it, so that no one would brush up against it and it would slide in by accident.”

Harry nodded, he made himself levitate almost a feet above the ground so he could reach the book. He ignored the amused smirk on Salazar’s face, although he couldn’t quite suppress the pout on his own.

He pushed the book in with a finger… he frowned. Nothing happened; the book didn’t even budge.

“Give it more force,” Salazar said.

Harry used two of his fingers and pushed the book in with more force, the book moved inward and a sound, like that of a heavy stone sliding backwards, sounded throughout the study. The book vanished and in its place was a small space, and at the back of the space, was an old scroll.

Harry carefully took out the scroll; he coughed at the dust that was released from the scroll, before waving it away, “Is this it?”

Salazar nodded, “Yes, this will give you the answers you seek.”

Harry took the scroll back to the desk and laid it out, pulling it open carefully, “This has everything on horcruxes? But I thought you said that all the knowledge was destroyed?”

“I said that most of the knowledge was destroyed, I kept a scroll as a just in case, and I’m sure that some other wizards have done something similar,” Salazar explained.

Harry looked up with a raised eyebrow, “Convenient.”

“Knowledge is power.”

Harry nodded in agreement.

“It says here that when you make a horcrux it splits your soul in half,” Harry paused and looked up, “Wait, so each time you make one, it splits your soul in half? So the first time, you have half a soul, then a quarter, then an eighth, etc.?”

Salazar frowned and looked at the scroll over Harry’s shoulder, “Yes, I don’t think you could only put a sliver, it would have to be half, otherwise the ritual would not work. The use of those specific ingredients would need the power of half a soul to work as it draws power from the body itself, which is fueled by the soul.”

Harry hummed in thought and scanned the scroll, a grin appeared on his face, “And there’s a potion to locate horcruxes!”

Harry deflated when he remembered his grades in potions, “Ugh, potions.”

Salazar raised an eyebrow, “Why do you say that like it is a bad thing?”

“Because while I may not be terrible at potions anymore, it isn’t my strongest point,” Harry looked at the ghost, “I suppose you’d be an expert, right?”

Salazar smirked, “Of course.”

“Great, can you help me make this potion then?”

Salazar nodded, “I suppose, but the stasis charms on the ingredients in my private lab would most likely have faded by now, especially since no one would have been in there to renew them, will you have any problems getting the ingredients?”

Harry looked at the list and grimaced, some of these weren’t going to be easy to get, especially since it looked like he’d have to go in to the Forbidden Forest to get half of these things, fresh Acromantula web, Centaur tail hair, that one would be particularly tricky, although why the potion needed Centaur tail hair was anyone’s guess.

“You won’t have to get all of them, as some of them are usable even a 100 years later,” Salazar said, looking at the list over Harry’s shoulder.

“I’ll need some time, but I have some of these others, and the basilisk skin will be easy, as there’s a giant basilisk in the chamber, and I have the bezoar and dandelion root in my potion’s kit.”

At the mention of the basilisk’s skin, Salazar glared at him, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you killing Ambrose. We _will_ be talking about this later.”

Harry gulped and raised his hands in defense, “It was either me or her! You should blame Voldemort’s horcrux! If he hadn’t set her on me, I wouldn’t have had to kill her!”

“You could have trapped her in the mouth,” Slytherin said, unimpressed.

Harry stared incredulously at the ghost, “I was 12! And running for my life!”

Salazar raised an eyebrow, “I suppose your young age gives you an excuse, although I will be the judge of that when my memories come in.”

Harry cocked his head, “Memories?”

Salazar nodded, “Whenever I am awakened, I get the memories of what happened in the halls of Hogwarts pertaining to the years of the student that awakened me. In short, ever since you first stepped in to Hogwarts to now, I will know about everything you did, however, it usually takes a couple of days for them to come in and I do not know when they do come in, just that at the time I receive them, I will be…indisposed.”

Harry’s eyebrow rose, “For how long?”

Salazar shrugged, “You are in your fourth year, yes? So, about three and a half hours, give or take.”

Harry nodded.

A thought formed in his head, “Does that mean… Who was the last person to awaken you?”

Salazar smirked, “I cannot share that information with you, nor can I tell you what happened.”

Harry sighed in disappointment, but his head snapped up at the Founder’s next words.

“But I can certainly lead you in the right direction.”

Harry grinned; he was beginning to like Salazar Slytherin.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry sighed in relief as he slid down the pipe to the chamber after getting all the ingredients needed. As he’d suspected, the centaur’s tail hair had given him the most trouble, but he’d managed. It had been three days since he’d awoken the Slytherin’s ghost, err… soul.

He walked to the study and entered to see Salazar perusing the scroll on horcruxes.

“I’ve got all the ingredients,” he announced, holding up a brown sack.

Salazar nodded, “Let me see it.”

Harry set the sack down on the desk.

Salazar dug through the bag pulling out the ingredients, he frowned as one of the ingredients went through his hands. Without waiting for the Founder to tell him, Harry reached in and grabbed the ingredient, setting it on the desk. 

“When can we start making the potion?”

“Today. Do you have a horcrux of Voldemort right now?”

Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Besides yourself?” Slytherin added.

Harry nodded, “In my trunk.”

“Go get it, and do you know how many horcruxes he made in total?”

“No. That’s what I’m hopping to find out,” Harry said getting up, “I’ll be back in two minutes.”

He walked out of the study when Salazar nodded and waved him away as he returned to perusing the scroll. Harry walked to the exit behind the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy. He quickly went to the Gryffindor Common Room, using his invisibility cloak he snuck up the stairs to his dorm and was relieved to find that everyone else was in class.

However, to be safe, he cast a locking charm at the door. He quickly hissed out the password for the library and took out Tom Riddle’s diary.

He locked the trunk and took down the locking charm. He quickly walked back to the common room and out the portrait hole and back to the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy just as it was opening.

He quickened his pace for the last three feet and stepped inside, pulling the portrait closed behind him.

He quickly joined Slytherin in the study and lay the book down in front of him.

“Alright, judging from the amount of soul, this feels to be the first one,” Slytherin said, a frown on his face as his hands hovered above the book.

“How can you tell?”

“My special soul form allows me to sense the soul of another person more clearly than an average wizard, even more so than the rare sensor. Comparing the amount of soul inside of you to this book, gives me the impression that Voldemort made quite a bit more horcruxes than I originally thought.”

Harry looked intrigued, “Sensor?”

“A wizard that is born with the natural ability to sense the magical auras around him,” Salazar explained.

Harry nodded.

“How long will the potion take to brew?”

“A month. It mostly needs to simmer towards the end; in the beginning is the hard part. If you mess up the beginning, the whole room will be blown to smithereens.”

Harry gulped.

“That won’t be a problem since you’re a great potions master, right?” Harry asked nervously.

Salazar smirked.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Where are we going?” Harry asked curiously as he followed the floating Slytherin Lord towards the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy.

“To my private potions lab, it’s in the dungeons,” Slytherin explained. 

Surprised, Harry asked, “It’s not in the chamber?”

Slytherin shook his head, “The magic in the chamber could potentially have unforeseen effects on the potions, especially the more volatile ones. I created a special room in the dungeons that is perfectly sealed and only has natural magic in it for my brewing needs.”

They stopped in front of the portrait and Salazar spoke, **“Dungeons.”**

Harry gasped as the portrait shimmered in front of him and a cold stone door, like the one in the dungeons, appeared in front of them.

“So you just say the part of Hogwarts you want?” Harry asked as Salazar hissed, **“Open.”**

Salazar nodded, then paused his hand on the door, “You know Parseltongue?”

“Yes,” Harry said, he furrowed his brow; did he not tell him about his second year?

**“Speak,”** Salazar commanded.

**“How come the door only led to the seventh floor before?”** Harry asked.

Salazar looked at him with an odd gleam in his eyes, but it vanished when he spoke, **“Because you are a Gryffindor. Usually, this door would always lead to the dungeons for easy access, but since you are a Gryffindor, it relocated its exit to one that would be most beneficial to you. If you want to change it, simply place your hand on the door and say which floor of Hogwarts you would like to exit on. Also, put on your cloak.”**

Harry nodded, that was very helpful and convenient. He followed Salazar out while doing as the Slytherin said.

**“Didn’t I tell you that I could speak Parseltongue?”** Harry asked the question on his mind.

**“It was somewhere in the back of my mind. However, it is one thing to tell me about your ability, but it is another thing entirely to actually hear it.”**

**“But don’t you need Parseltongue to enter the chamber?”**

Salazar shook his head, **“No. I am the only one of the founders that speaks Parseltongue, if the doors only opened with Parseltongue, the other three would have been locked out. There is a password for each founder that uses their blood, so only they and their descendants may gain access to my chamber.”**

Harry nodded. He followed the floating soul in front of him deeper in to the dungeons. Thankfully, they did not come across anyone, as it was a Tuesday, but Harry still kept his invisibility cloak on.

**“Won’t you be spotted?”** Harry asked.

Salazar sunk in to the floor in reply.

After a few more twists and turns, they stood in front of a blank wall. Harry, puzzled, scanned the wall for any distinguishing marks and found a carving of a small black snake at the bottom.

**“Open,”** Salazar hissed and the dungeon wall the size of a door slid sideways, revealing a bubble like layer coating the entrance. Salazar passed through it easily, before Harry could do the same, Salazar spoke, “Put your cloak away.”

Harry, confused, did as told and shoved the cloak in his bag. As he stepped through the bubble layer, he felt a small resistance and then passed through with a pop. He took a breath and felt pure magic rush through his lungs, clean and untainted magic. He opened his eyes, his brow furrowed, when had he closed them? He shook his head and took in the room.

Harry’s eyes widened, “Wow,” he breathed. He wasn’t a potions fanatic by any means, but even he could admit, the potions lab was impressive. The room had all types of cauldrons, ranging from the standard pewter, to one made completely of diamonds. There was a floor to ceiling wooden cupboard that took up the whole one side of the room. The doors were closed, so he couldn’t see what was inside. There was another cupboard that took up half a wall filled with all kinds of potions instruments. Rows of different types of knives, scoopers, phials, scales (brass and silver), and some he couldn’t even begin to identify. Beside the shelves of instruments, there was a small bookshelf filled with various potions books and scrolls. 

“We will begin,” Salazar said, bringing Harry’s attention to him.

Harry nodded and hurried to do as Salazar said, setting up a copper cauldron, getting the fire to a certain temperature, laying out the ingredients in a certain order, and so on. 

Salazar carefully prepared each ingredient, he internally smiled, he hadn’t made a potion in such a long time, but he discovered that it was just like riding a broom.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry dutifully sat at a table away from the bubbling cauldron, focusing on his Transfiguration essay. It had been four days since they had started the Horcrux Locating potion and Harry and Salazar had gotten in to a routine: while Salazar worked on the potion (occasionally calling Harry over for things he couldn’t pick up), Harry would work on his homework for his classes. Although, Salazar had made it clear that while Harry was in the lab, he was not to cast any magic as it could have potential side effects on the potion. There were only a couple of spells that Salazar would let him cast, as they didn’t need a lot of magic, and the natural magic in the room would overpower the small use of magic used. As the spells he could cast were limited, Harry would focus on the essays and the magical theory he would need for each class. 

Suffice to say, Harry was surprised as Salazar’s gasp echoed around the room.  He looked up, his eyes zoning in on Salazar’s form, kneeling on the floor and clutching his head.

“Salazar!” He rushed to the soul’s side, kneeling on the hard dungeon floor and extending his hand towards the frozen figure.

Before he could touch him, Salazar grasped his extended wrist, “The memories are coming in. You have,” a grunt of pain interrupted him, “15 minutes until the next step, 13,” his voice was raspy. Before Harry could open his mouth, Salazar’s form vanished, leaving Harry in the potion’s lab with only a bubbling cauldron and a scroll with instructions that held the recipe for a very volatile potion that Harry could not possibly hope to finish without help.

Harry quickly ran over to the old scroll and ran his finger down to the number 13. His eyes widened, bloody hell…

He paced around the room, he had 15 minutes until the next step, but he was sure that he didn’t know what the “amylolytic process” was and, unlike his potions text, the scroll didn’t come with pictures.

_‘…Wait, potions text?’_ Harry bit his lip, should he? He cast a tempus, his eyes widening at the amount of time passed. He only had 10 minutes. Just then the cauldron started bubbling. He cursed, and darted out of the room. If worst came to worst, he’d make Snape swear an oath.

He hissed for the door to open and sprinted down the corridor towards Snape’s office. He cursed again as he realized that Snape would be teaching today, he made a sharp left and came across Snape’s classroom. He hurriedly knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Snape’s silky voice said.

Harry burst through the door, his eyes found Snape’s, and before his brain could think through what he had to say, his mouth opened, “Can you leave this class unsupervised?”

Snape raised an eyebrow, his tone holding a dangerous edge, he spoke, “Excuse me?”

Harry narrowed his eyes and cast another tempus, 8 minutes. He looked around and saw that he had interrupted the fourth year Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff class.

“Potion. Blowing up school. 8 minutes. Not exaggerating!” Harry said to Snape.

Snape must have seen the panic and seriousness in his eyes because he muttered under his breath and waved his wand, putting all the bubbling cauldrons in stasis.

Snape turned back to see Harry already sprinting out of the room and down the corridor.

“Dismissed and not one word about this, or you _will_ regret it,” Snape hissed to his students, his glare promising painful consequences should they not listen. As one, they nodded and Snape followed after the damn brat.

“Potter, what is going on?” Snape asked as he saw that Potter was waiting for him at the end of the hallway. Potter waved for him to catch up impatiently.

“I’m serious about the potion blowing up the school, I’ll tell you after,” Harry spoke quickly turning and running back the way he came. He slid to a halt two minutes later, **“Open.”**

Snape’s eyes widened slightly as the wall in front of him slid open to reveal a potions lab that Potter rushed in to.

“Potter what-”

“No time! Here,” Harry thrust the scroll at him, “number 13, it needs Herblore, terrydime, and celadon essence, all the ingredients are here but I have no idea what this word means.”

Harry pointed to a spot on the scroll and to the three ingredients on the table.

Snape opened his mouth, but he closed it and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew a lost cause when he saw one. Muttering to himself, he re-read the instructions, his eyes narrowing as he saw what the name of the potion was. He set the scroll down, but before he did anything, he pinned Potter with a glare, “You _will_ be explaining why you are making a horcrux locating potion, or I _will_ be taking you up to the Headmaster.”

Harry gulped and nodded.

Snape quickly but efficiently prepared the next three ingredients in the remaining time, “Time?” Snape asked and Harry cast the tempus once more, “now,” said Harry as the five turned to a six.

Snape stirred in one of the ingredients, sprinkled another over the still potion, and put three drops of the essence on to the sprinkled portion. He stirred clockwise twice, before waiting 15 seconds and stirring anti-clockwise once, he drew the stirrer to the middle of the potion and drew it out at a 45-degree angle, letting the remaining potion slide off slowly before pulling the stirrer out and letting it rest on the table.

The potion in the cauldron bubbled a fiery red, before it settled, although it didn’t change color.

Snape turned, “You have an hour until the next step. Talk Potter.”

Harry fidgeted, while he was glad that the potion was no longer going to blow up, he wasn’t very trustful of Snape. He took a step back when Snape took a threatening step forward.

“Potter, either you tell me now, or we will have this discussion in the Headmaster’s office.”

“You can’t get out without using Parseltongue,” Harry said, but immediately clamped his mouth shut as he realized what he’d said.

“Potter,” Snape growled, his eyes hardening, as he stood towering above Harry, with his arms crossed.

“I need a Wizard’s Oath,” Harry spoke quickly, before Snape tortured him for answers.

Snape raised an eyebrow, though by the set of his mouth, he was not amused.

“You have to swear on your magic not to tell Dumbledore, or Voldemort or any of his followers or supporters, about what I’m doing, unless I release you from the oath,” Harry blurted. Harry was cursing himself in his mind, even after all the meditation, his brain-to-mouth filter had still not improved. He looked anxiously at his professor, who withdrew his wand from his holster. Harry stepped back, before silently releasing his own wand from his holster.

He was expecting to be cursed, but Snape simply rolled his eyes and drawled, “I, Severus Snape, swear on my magic to not tell Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort, or any of their followers and supporters, anything that Harry Potter says in this room, unless given permission to by Harry Potter or I, sincerely,” he added after a thought, “deem it too dangerous to keep as a secret from the former person, so mote it be.”

Harry thought over the wording and decided that this was probably the best he was going to get, so he raised his own wand, “So mote it be.”

A flash of magic sealed the oath between the two wizards.

“Now, Potter. Why are you making a horcrux locating potion?”

Harry hesitated but a glare from Snape had him talking, “Voldemort’s not dead.”

Before Snape could utter a sarcastic response, Harry continued, “The reason is because he made horcruxes. More than one.”

He walked over to his study table and offered the older man a seat. Snape strode towards the desk and sat in the armchair in front of the desk. Harry walked over to the bookshelf and took out a book. He put it down in front of Snape.

“This is the first horcrux Voldemort made. It’s a diary that contains the soul of a 16-year-old Tom Marvolo Riddle and it is the same one that possessed Ginny Weasley in my second year.”

Harry took out his wand and used the same charm that Riddle had to spell out his name.

Snape remained expressionless, not giving anything away, as the name ‘Tom Marvolo Riddle’ rearranged to form ‘I Am Lord Voldemort’. Harry explained what had happened in second year, how Ginny had been possessed by the soul of the teenage dark lord and how he had slain the basilisk with only a sword since magic did not work on it. He talked about using Fawkes’ tears to save the diary because he wanted answers. He explained that he had found out that it was a horcrux when he went to visit the Goblins for his emancipation. He left out the part where the Goblins had said that he himself was a horcrux, implying that he had asked the Goblins if they knew what kind of magic it had.

Throughout the story, Snape listened patiently; carefully analyzing everything Potter told him. After Potter fell silent, Snape scowled and sent a stinging hex with a flick of his finger.

“Ow!” Harry glared, rubbing his abused head where the hex had hit. He was surprised that Snape had used wandless magic, while in the back of his mind, he knew that Snape could, as he would close the class doors with a wave of his hand, but this was the first time he had seen Snape use wandless magic in this way.

Snape glared, “Your stupidity knows no bounds, instead of telling a teacher, or even the Headmaster, about the horcrux, you, the dunderhead that you are, decided to keep that tidbit of information to yourself, not to mention, you went and got emancipated, and you were brewing a highly volatile potion without knowing what the brewing process was like and you still think it wise to keep information from me as I know you have not told me everything.”

Harry glared back, but said nothing.

“What I want to know is, why you are not telling the Headmaster, or even your head of house, about this?” Snape asked. He knew that the boy didn’t trust him, but what about the other adults?

Harry bit his lip, wondering if he should tell the potions master about his suspicions about the Headmaster. If he did, he would also have to tell him about the horcrux in his scar, as there was no other reason that Dumbledore would want him dead. Harry pursed his lips, if he told Snape this, he would have less inclination to tell Dumbledore, the oath aside, he knew if Snape deemed the information too dangerous, then he would tell Dumbledore.

Snape held back the urge to sigh; dealing with Potter always left him exhausted.

“Potter,” Harry looked up at Snape, “Despite our past, I am _not_ your enemy.”

Harry sighed; well, having a renowned potions master on his side would be beneficial… aside from Salazar.

“Please remember that I’m putting all of my trust in you,” Harry said as he locked eyes with his professor, who gave a nod, urging Harry to go on.

“Dumbledoreistryingtokillme,” Harry said quickly.

Snape blinked, “Repeat that. Slowly.”

“Dumbledore. Is. Trying. To. Kill. Me.”

Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “That’s what I thought you said.” He looked up to the ceiling, _‘What in Merlin’s name did I do to deserve this?’_

“Potter,” He couldn’t believe he was actually asking this – he ignored the small voice in the back of his head that thought it was about time the brat caught on to the old coot’s schemes, after all, you never knew what to expect from Potter, and he did not want to get his hopes up – “ _Why_ do you think the Headmaster is trying to kill you?”

Harry fidgeted before sighing; he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He explained his suspicions, the trials he had been through at Hogwarts, how the clues were practically laid out for him and his friends each year: the stone, the diary, Sirius, and the tournament. He pointed out how Dumbledore was the one to say that he had no choice but to compete.

“But, I only came to that conclusion when I went to visit the Goblins they agreed to a ritual to see if I had binds on my magic, I did, as well as a few compulsions, and the chains restricting my magic were a ‘twinkling blue’. I had them removed and after the ritual, the goblin performing the ritual told me about the horcrux in my scar. That’s how I know Voldemort made more than one horcrux, and how the diary is one,” Harry finished.

He left out the parts about using the chamber to study and practice all types of magic as well as Salazar’s involvement. He wanted to wait a bit for that.

Snape sat back in his chair, lacing his hands together; he quickly drew up his Occlumency shields. He needed to think. Potter had surprised him. He finally acknowledged the small voice in the back of his head that yes, Potter had finally seen the manipulations. He frowned. If what Potter said were true about the compulsions and binds, he would have to check himself as well. It had never made sense to him that he’d always had a calm head, but whenever Potter was placed in front of him, he’d practically lose it if it were not for his control. Ever since they had called a truce, forced by Minerva, it had become easier to stay in control; he no longer had the urge to make the boy suffer as he did before.

Harry watched as Snape sat back, his eyes looking to the side in thought. After a few moments of silence, he pulled out his Arithmancy text, might as well get some work done. Snape wouldn’t be able to leave anyway, what with the door only opening with Parseltongue. Plus, he’d need him for the next step of the potion. Thankfully, there were only three more steps until the easy part came, according to Salazar.

“Potter,” Snape called, grabbing the studying teen’s attention after a period of silence, “Although, I do not approve of your schemes,” Snape held up a hand when Harry made to protest, “That is what it is, I will not alert the Headmaster of your doings provided you keep me informed. Especially when you decide to use the potion to locate the other horcruxes.”

Snape’s eyes bore in to Harry’s, “Am I clear?”

Harry frowned, unhappy about Snape’s interference, but what choice did he have? He gave a reluctant nod, he went to speak, but Snape held up a hand, “Also, do not think that you are off the hook, I know you are keeping more secrets. Despite your usual idiocy, even I know that you would not have attempted a potion that you did not know how to brew. I know that you most likely have a helper.”

Harry opened his mouth, but snapped it shut when Snape glared at him, “I will not ask you about your helper, for now.”

Harry narrowed his eyes at the last part, but nodded. He blinked, wait, had Snape just given him a compliment?

“Now Potter, is there anything else you feel I should know before I go?” Snape asked.

Harry was about to shake his head when he remembered the potion, “Um, what about the next step of the potion? It’s almost time.”

Snape held back a sigh and walked over to pick up the scroll once more, he cast a tempus and saw that he had seven minutes left and turned around, picking up the acromantula web, he showed it to Harry, “Put this in when the seven minutes are up, stir once clockwise, wait one minute, then stir seven times anti-clockwise and then you should have three hours until the next step, come get me then if your helper is not here by then.”

Harry nodded, “Thank you.”

Snape nodded, he gestured towards the door, and Harry jumped up, walking to the door.

**“Open,”** he hissed and Snape disappeared out the door with a swish of his robes.

With a sigh, Harry collapsed back in to the armchair, mentally exhausted by the confrontation with his scariest professor.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Snape swirled the shimmering amber liquid in his glass as he thought about what Potter had revealed earlier that day. He drained the glass and placed it on the table.

He frowned and closed his eyes. Clearing his mind, he dove in to his mindscape. Immediately, his frown deepened. Now that he was actively looking for things that were out of place in his mind, he could feel a disturbance in the back. He quickly strode over to the feeling and, pushing aside one of the numerous bookshelves decorating his study, he saw a small piece of wall had chains painted on it.

A wave of anger swept over Snape, but he quickly calmed himself. It seemed like he had some cleaning to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emerald: Well, how was it? Did you like it? Thank you everyone for all your comments, subscriptions, and Kudos! Your feedback (however it is given) always has me grinning all day long! I love you all!
> 
> Read 4 -> Also, I made a Twitter! Now you can follow me on there to get updates on my stories, random rants, and my general musings on life. You can follow me at TwistedMindOfMe; the name on there is also Emerald Time. 
> 
> Review! Please? It’s my birthday! WOOHOO! I’m 19 now!!! Yay!! I'm just so ridiculously happy today!


	6. Chapter 6

**Warning:** The saying “the path to hell is paved with good intentions,” will apply to Dumbles in every possible way.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; do **not** sue me.

Pairings: Still haven’t decided.

“Talking”

_‘Thinking’_

**“Parseltongue”**

_Harry Writing_

_ Tom Writing _

**_SOUND EFFECTS_ **

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Snape scowled as he looked at the mess on the floor of his mindscape. How had he missed this? He was a master Occlumens, how had Dumbledore been able to slip in and mess with his mind?

In front of him lay the remains of the days he had been bullied, but the memories were drenched with spells, making it so that the emotions on it were amplified and those amplified emotions were triggered by the word ‘Potter’.

With a sneer on his face, Snape nullified the spells and banished the memories to their rightful place, deep inside his mind. He needed to check his other memories as well. If Dumbledore had tampered with them… Well, Dumbledore would find out exactly what the Slytherin was capable of.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gold eyes snapped open as a heavy gasp was heard throughout the study. Salazar stood from the chair he had been sitting on. He cast a tempus; he’d been out for two and a half hours. He glanced around, making sure he was alone.

He softly floated through the ceiling and appeared on the second floor of Hogwarts. 

 **“** **Aidôneus.”**

Salazar’s ghostly form disappeared as he floated straight towards the Forest on the grounds. He had a craving that needed to be satisfied. A dark smirk flittered across his lips.

He would be satisfied today.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry bit his lip as he looked at the scroll; the three hours were almost up. He was just about to go and find Snape, when a voice spoke up, startling him.

“I see you managed to keep the potion from blowing up,” Salazar spoke as he floated in from the doorway.

“Salazar!” Harry spun around; he took in the ghost’s appearance, “Are you okay?”

At least, he didn’t look any different.

Salazar waved a hand, “I’m fine. The pain is almost gone,” he grimaced, “Your Hogwarts years took a bit longer than most, time turner, really?”

Harry shrugged, then he remembered Snape and glared at Salazar, “YOU! I had to bring in Snape and tell him everything! Well, almost, I didn’t tell him about you or the chamber, but he made me promise that I bring him in when the potion was ready.”

Salazar’s eyebrow rose as he floated over to the workbench, “I left you on the 13th step, that’s one of the easier steps by far. And your potions professor really isn’t as bad as you make him out to be, well, when he’s not teaching or dealing with kids. As for being here when the potion is put to work, whether that is a boon or a hindrance will be seen when it is done.”

Harry didn’t comment on the latter part of Salazar’s reply, instead choosing to address his main problem, “I’m a fourth year! I don’t know what the ami-loly-tic process is!” Harry said, stumbling over the unfamiliar word. 

Salazar stared at him incredulously, “Amylolytic pr- _that’s_ what had you confused?”

Harry crossed his arms and glared.

Salazar sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Listen, the amylolytic process is just a fancy title for splitting an ingredient at the core and then converting the core’s properties by using another ingredient. In this case, you would convert the cores of Herblore and terrydime by using a drop of the celadon essence. All you had to do, was prepare the ingredients by drawing out the cores with your wand and then place a drop of celadon essence on each and then stir it in to the potion as the instructions dictated.”

Harry blinked, “…oh.”

Salazar held in a sigh, “You are hopeless.”

“Hey!” Harry shouted indignantly.

Salazar barely refrained from rolling his eyes, “How long have I been gone?”

Harry cast a tempus, “Just about 4 hours.”

“I assume you did the 14th step as well, then?” Salazar asked, nodding at the bubbling cauldron.

“Yeah, Snape left _clearer_ instructions,” Harry said, sitting back on his workbench to put the finishing touches on his ancient runes essay.

Salazar shook his head, muttering about incompetent wizards, “I dread how low the Hogwarts curriculum has fallen,” he said as he got to work on the next step.

“Thank Mother Magic that after this, I only have two more steps to do and they happen relatively quickly, so then we can let it set for three weeks,” Salazar said, “After that, we’ll have a talk about your years at Hogwarts.”

Harry stiffened. The way Salazar said that, he had a feeling that he was not going to enjoy that talk.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Harry!” Hermione walked up to him.

“Hm?” Harry asked, cracking an eye open.

He and Luna were lying on the grass near the Black Lake, just relaxing for a while. It was a little chilly out, since it was spring, but nothing a little warming charm couldn’t handle.

“Hermione, come lay down with us,” Luna’s soft voice floated over to the brunette.

Hermione shook her head, “You both have homework to do! Why are you just lazing around? Our final exams are just a little over two months away!”

Harry groaned, “Hermione! We have plenty of time, let’s just take a short break to relax and just enjoy the moment.”

“Harry! I’m surprised at you! You should be studying for the tournament!” Hermione chided.

“I’ve got it covered,” Harry said, waving his hand dismissively.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, “Harry…”

“Hermione, look around,” Harry said, gesturing around them, “It’s quiet, peaceful, and when are we ever going to get another chance like this?”

Hermione sighed, “I guess it is nice, but after this, we study.”

“Deal,” Harry and Luna said happily.

Hermione smiled and lay down beside the other two. She wouldn’t admit she was worried about her best friend. Studying was the only thing that kept her mind off of the impending danger that seemed to befall Harry every year. She furrowed her brows, why was Harry always the one that ended up in danger?

She sighed quietly, she knew Harry had the time turner, but he never seemed to mention it. She wondered if he was actually using it to study for the tournament or… She mentally shook her head; of course he was studying! He might not show it but she knew he was worried as well. She just wished he would let her in.

She felt something warm on her hand and looked down. She saw a pale hand lying gently on top of hers. She looked to the side and met with green eyes.

Harry smiled at her reassuringly, his smile saying ‘It’s okay.’

She sighed and smiled back, squeezing his hand before he pulled it away to resume talking to Luna, his hands waving about to describe some extravagant Quidditch move. She would never understand how Harry always knew how to make her worries go away, but she was glad that he could.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“He’s different, isn’t he?”

Draco looked to the side to see his long time friend leaning beside him. They were in the shadow of the castle wall, hidden from curious eyes yet able to see everything that lay before them. 

“Who is?”

Blaise smirked knowingly, “Potter, of course.”

“He’s a stupid Gryffindor.”

“Is he?”

Draco snorted, “Of course he is, only a Gryffindor would help an enemy.”

Ever since Potter had helped him escape from Moody and then told Draco he owed him, Draco’s curiosity had been piqued, more so than usual. Helping him wasn’t what had gotten Draco curious; it was the favor that Potter had told him he owed him that had done it. The more Draco watched Potter this year, the more Slytherin-like he became.

Blaise hummed, “So what do you call someone that stops pursuing their enemy just because their enemy helped them out?”

Draco scowled, “Don’t be foolish. I am merely trying to figure Potter out. Know thy enemy.”

“Of course, my mistake,” Blaise said mockingly, walking away.

Draco scowled after him.

“Oh, Snape wants to see you,” Blaise said pausing casually in his stride towards the Forbidden Forest.

“Hn,” Draco grunted, he threw one last glance at Potter and his friends, then walked off in the other direction to meet his head of house.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Sit.”

Harry blinked as he looked at Salazar. He’d just come down from breakfast and since it was a Saturday, he’d decided to forgo the time turner. He had told Hermione that he’d be going to study. She had offered to go with him, but he’d deterred her by bringing up the exams and that he was preparing something different for the tournament. She hadn’t been happy, but Harry wasn’t sure how Hermione would react when she saw what he’d been working on.

While Hermione had gotten better about bending the rules, she was still very much against breaking the rules outright and he didn’t have an explanation for what he was doing here, well, one that would satisfy Hermione. She was still very much sheltered against the manipulations going on around them and he didn’t want to be the one to burst her bubble, at least, not until it was absolutely necessary.

However, now he had something else to worry about. His expression serious, Harry silently took the seat in front of the Hogwarts Founder.

Salazar examined the small boy in front of him. He could see it all too clearly, especially now that he had seen the boy as he had grown in the halls of his beloved school.

“I want to know,” Salazar began in his deep voice, “why you didn’t tell anyone about your home situation? And simply asking Dumbledore to stay for the summer does not count.”

Harry stiffened. Of all the things that Salazar may have wanted to talk about, he would never have expected this. His jaw clenched, this was not a topic that he was willing to talk about. He forced himself to relax; it wouldn’t do any good to show any weakness in front of the Slytherin.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s in the past, what I’m worried about is the future now,” he said, glad that his voice came out indifferent.

“Clearly,” Salazar drawled, “Hadrian.”

Harry was surprised to hear his name, in all the time they had worked together, Salazar had never called him by his name; it was always “brat” or “Gryffindor” or something to that effect.

“Our past, makes us who we are in the present and who we will be in the future,” Salazar said, “You cannot hope to conquer the future, if you have not come to terms with your past.”

“Duly noted,” Harry said, not cooperating in the slightest.

Salazar shook his head, “All right, if you don’t want to talk about it, we won’t. However, in the time I’ve spent with you and from the memories that Hogwarts has given me, I have come to know you as a decent wizard. Heed my words: if you don’t sort this out now, it will come back. Scars do not go away if you do not think about them. They leave a mark, not on your body, but on your soul.”

Harry looked away from the all-too-knowing eyes. He knew he had yet to acknowledge what the Dursleys did in the past. He had been running away for so long, he was beginning to grow weary… He mentally shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts. No, it was fine. Everything was behind him; the Dursleys didn’t touch him anymore and now he knew wandless magic, so it didn’t matter, he could defend himself if needed. There was no need to bring back old hurts.

“Anything else?” Harry asked, his tone neutral.

Salazar watched the boy in front of him, looking for any sign that he had understood his words, but it seemed that Hadrian was stubborn.

“Yes, you are too reckless.”

Harry relaxed, this was a topic he could deal with.

“Going to deliver a dragon at midnight, going after the stone when you were 11, then continuing to write in something that talked back to you, going in to a nest of acromantula, then going after that girl, all when you were 12, accepting a gift that you had no idea who sent it after knowing there was a mad man after you, then the man who escaped from Azkaban, should I go on? Your life reads like a dangerous action novel instead of that of a student,” Salazar said disapprovingly.

Harry crossed his arms, “Well, I apologize if the adults around me are incompetent prats who have their heads too far up their arses to see what is going on around them.” 

“Well, who appointed you the Hero?” Salazar asked leaning back, interlocking his fingers in front of him.

“Well, who else is gonna do it?” Harry countered, crossing his arms, “I don’t see anyone else volunteering and, like you said, there _is_ a mad man after me.”

“It is not your job. You should have gone to other teachers-”

“Really, and who would you suggest?” Harry asked sardonically, cutting the other off, “Snape? McGonagall? Dumbledore? Lockhart? Lupin? Quirrell? Snape hates me-”

“And yet he saved your life. Multiple times.” Salazar cut in, a glare directed at Harry for interrupting him.

Harry went on as if he hadn’t heard him, “I told McGonagall what happened in first year, she didn’t believe me. Dumbledore’s always gone when you need him. Lockhart was a fraud who couldn’t do a simple _Expelliarmus,_ and I _did_ take him with me, he obliviatedhimself.Lupin was a werewolf, who forgot to take his potion, and Quirrell was the problem. Whom exactly was I supposed to go to?”

“Flitwick, Sprout, Sinistra, Vector?”

Harry snorted, he highly doubted it, and they would’ve just turned him away like McGonagall.

“You do know that Flitwick is a dueling champion, right?”

Harry stayed silent at the mention of Flitwick’s dueling abilities; he had known that, he had been cursing himself over the fact that he’d chosen Lockhart over Flitwick. Although, considering what had happened in the chamber, he was glad that he had indeed chosen Lockhart over Flitwick.

Salazar had to control his stern expression and not smirk at seeing the slight pout the other had on. He didn’t think that Hadrian even knew he was pouting. “You jump in to situations without thinking them through, if it wasn’t for your luck and your muggleborn friend, you would have been dead long ago.”

Harry sighed; he couldn’t argue with that, he paused as a thought came to mind, “Wait, I thought you hated muggleborns? You just complimented one.”

Salazar raised an eyebrow, “I never said I hated muggleborns.”

Harry frowned in confusion, “What? But there’s this whole legend of you fighting with the founders and leaving over the issue of admitting muggleborns in to Hogwarts…” Harry trailed off at the look Salazar gave him.

“Well, clearly, I haven’t left,” Salazar began, his thoughts on the legend evident in his tone, “And a magical child is just that, a magical child. It makes no difference whether they are born from two muggles, two wizards, or a wizard and a muggle. There were very few muggleborns when I was alive. About one in every hundred or so magical children, was a muggleborn.”

“But didn’t you build this secret chamber and put a basilisk in it to help your heirs kill muggleborns?” Harry asked still confused.

“I built this chamber for privacy. Each founder has their own so-called “secret chamber”, just because we built a school together, didn’t mean we got along all the time. As for Ambrose,” he threw a glare at Harry and Harry sunk down in to his seat, “She is a protector of the school, just like Helga’s damned hell rat.”

“Hell rat?” Harry asked, intrigued.

“It’s not actually a rat, it’s a demonic badger that she procured from some place in Japan. Love at first sight, raised Hell trying to get it here and then took it with her everywhere.”

Harry held back a smile, “You sound annoyed.”

Salazar muttered, “The amount of trouble that thing got in to…”

Harry cocked his head, “What about Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, did they have any pets?”

Salazar shook his head, “Rowena didn’t want the trouble of looking after a pet, she said it would take time away from her studying and Godric, well, he’s lazy and irresponsible, we all agreed it would be better if he didn’t get one.”

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise at the information.

“But, enough about that,” Salazar said, “Back to you being reckless.”

Harry sighed, disappointed; he really wanted to know more about the Founders.

“Well, what do you want me to do about it? I’m planning things out right now, aren’t I?” Harry said, exasperated.

“You’re planning things out when you face Voldemort,” Salazar corrected.

Harry raised an eyebrow, “Well, yes, he is the one after my head.”

“And Dumbledore?”

Harry paused, “Dumbledore isn’t going to kill me right away. He’s probably hoping that Voldemort and I will kill each other off in a duel. Otherwise, he would’ve done it sooner, probably made up some story of me dying on one of my many “adventures”. Voldemort is the current threat, so I need to focus on him first.”

“That is where you are wrong,” Salazar stated.

“How so?” asked Harry, cocking his head.

“Dumbledore will not kill you himself, yes, but there are worse things than dying. Dumbledore desires control. He believes that he is right and that the only way to save the “Greater Good” is to do as he says. When things get out of his control, Dumbledore starts manipulating things to get back to the way he wants them to be,” Salazar explained, “You are proof that Dumbledore will go to any lengths to keep people in line.”

“The compulsions and binds,” Harry stated.

Salazar nodded, “Yes, you had compulsions placed on your mind and binds on your magic. If Dumbledore thinks that you are breaking free of them, he will put more powerful binds on you, and this time, they will not be as easy to find and take off.”

“You’re talking about the way I acted at the end of the second task,” Harry stated rather than asked.

“Yes, right now Dumbledore thinks your attitude is a fluke, let us not correct his suspicions. Until your plan with Voldemort comes to fruition, you need not alert Dumbledore of your activities. He may look like an old man, but there is a reason why he has so many high positions,” Salazar said.

Harry sighed, “I thought about that, but surely now that I’m in public so much, he wouldn’t dare to make a move?” but even to his ears, the excuse sounded feeble.

Salazar said nothing, simply raising an eyebrow.

Harry rubbed his temples, resigned, “So I have to act the way I’ve acted when under the compulsions. That’s going to get old.”

“Perhaps, but if your plan goes well, you only need to act that way until the third task,” Salazar said.

Harry nodded.

“There is more stuff that I would like to talk about, but for now, we need to concentrate on training you to when you face Voldemort,” Salazar said, “Speaking off, will you be revealing your special status to Voldemort?”

Harry shook his head, “No, if Voldemort were to ever find out about my special status, he’d probably lock me away. It’s better for him to not know.”

Salazar raised an eyebrow, “While I acknowledge that as a possibility, what are you going to do if you meet him? For that matter, how are you going to meet him?”

“He tends to show up around the end of the school year,” Harry said. He explained about the dreams he’d been having, of Voldemort telling a ‘Barty’ about how he shouldn’t fail to make Harry win the tournament, “I figure he’s going to interrupt the Third Task in some way since that’s the only task left.”

Salazar watched Harry carefully; he had decided to keep the information he had found out about Moody to himself. He wanted to see how long it would take the boy in front of him to figure it out. The Lovegood girl had already given him a big clue, now it was just a matter of time, but it seemed he needed a little push, “And, have you thought about the hint your blonde friend gave you?”

Harry blinked and then narrowed his eyes, “You know who it is.” It was a statement.

Salazar nodded, “I do.”

“And you can’t tell me?”

Salazar smirked, “It’s not a matter of ‘can’, rather I want to see if you can figure it out for yourself.”

Harry sighed, exasperated, “Can’t you just tell me?”

“No,” Salazar said, his voice firm, “I’m not just going to give you the answers that you can find out for yourself. I will help you, do not misunderstand me, but I’m not going to do everything for you. If you cannot find the answers you seek for yourself then I will know that I’ve been wasting my time.”

Harry nodded grudgingly, he could see Salazar’s point, and the man was a teacher, it would be a given that he would not be simply giving him the answers.

“There is one thing that I will tell you,” Salazar began.

Harry looked up.

“Your former friend, the redhead, you should keep an eye out for him. It’s not what you think,” Salazar said.

Harry raised an eyebrow, “Ron? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Salazar simply raised an eyebrow and Harry sighed.

“Yeah, yeah, I have to figure it out for myself.”

“Now, I know of what you’ve practiced, but from here on out, we are going to work on perfecting your skills. Your wandless magic is still a bit unstable and you have not practiced any offensive spells with it yet. You also need to complete your animagus transformation until you can do it flawlessly, which is still a long way to go and I am going to test your Occlumency as well.”

Harry nodded, sitting up straighter.

It was time to get to work.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

A bead of sweat rolled down Harry’s temple as he forced himself to transform his hands in to paws.

“Don’t force yourself,” Salazar spoke, “Relax, let the magic flow over you and imagine the form you want to take. Imagine your body shifting from nails to claws, from hands to paws, from hair to fur.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Do you know how I can make a cage from runes?” Harry asked.

“A cage?” Salazar asked.

Harry nodded, “Last year, there was a prophecy that was made, the traitor might be with Voldemort when I see him and I want to be prepared.”

“Ah, you are speaking of Peter Pettigrew, are you not?”

Harry nodded, “I’ve been searching in the library, but there doesn’t seem to be anything strong enough to contain him without some loophole showing up.”

Salazar cocked his head, “How badly do you want to capture him?”

Harry narrowed his eyes, “What?”

“Well, as I have been telling you, I am not just going to give you what you want,” Salazar said, “How badly do you want to capture him?”

Harry pursed his lips, “What do you want?”

Salazar smirked, “If you can learn to control your shadow abilities outside of your animagus form, I will teach you a powerful cage spell that almost no one can escape from.”

“That’s it?” Harry asked, “There’s no other… catch?”

“No,” Salazar said, _‘Not yet.’_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“The potion is ready,” Salazar said, halting Harry from trying to pass through the shadow world again.

“Go get the book and meet me down in the lab,” Salazar said before he disappeared through the floor.

Harry turned and walked to the exit.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I got it,” Harry said, as he entered the lab, “So we just pour the potion on the book?” 

“No, let me have it,” Salazar said taking the book. He set it down beside the potion and turned to Harry, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Harry blinked, “…No?”

“You told your potions professor that you would call him when you were to use the potion,” Salazar reminded him.

Harry grimaced, “He doesn’t know about you.”

“Well, you have 20 minutes, go tell him what you left out,” Salazar said, his tone final.

“No,” Harry said, his tone and stance defiant.

Salazar narrowed his eyes, “Then I’ll take my leave.”

Harry’s eyes widened, shocked, “What?”

“I refuse to train someone that doesn’t honor their word. You agreed that you would tell your potions professor when you used the potion and would bring him in.

“But-”

“No,” Salazar spoke, cutting Harry off before he could start, “You promised your professor that you would bring him in once the potion was done, does your word mean nothing?”

“I did what I had to do,” Harry argued, his eyes narrowed.

Salazar raised his eyebrow, “So if you make a deal with me, I teach you something in exchange for a favor, that means once you have learned what you want, you will no longer honor your word?”

“It’s not the same thing and you know it, if I had done the same thing with Dumbledore-”

“Dumbledore did not make an oath to keep your secrets, Dumbledore did not risk his life to save you each year,” Salazar said, cutting him off.

Harry blinked, understanding suddenly dawning on him, “This isn’t about the lying, is it? You want me to trust Snape.”

“I do not know what you are speaking of.”

Harry pursed his lips, “Fine, I’ll play along, but I’m not ready to tell Snape about you. I don’t trust him, oath or not.”

Salazar nodded, “I will write down the instructions while you get your professor. Go.”

Harry reluctantly nodded and left the room to go find Snape. First, he checked the potions classroom, but Snape wasn’t teaching, so he headed to the Slytherin Head’s office.

His thoughts wandered away from horcruxes to Salazar as he walked. Harry hated to admit it, but what Salazar said, got to him. Had he changed so much? He knew that he did what he had to do, and lying wasn’t the problem as much as keeping his word was. He had always been capable of twisting the truth, and looking back, he could have handled Snape better than he had; even in a lie, he’d never promise something that he didn’t have any intention of doing unless it was absolutely necessary.

He frowned. He had always thought of himself as a man of his word, but he had been willing to forget it because of Snape; and, speaking of, they hadn’t spoken at all after he had asked Snape for help. Since the potions incident, Snape had laid off him in class, he wasn’t an angel by any means, but Snape wasn’t as bad as he had thought. Which brought his mind to another point, why did Salazar want him to trust Snape of all people? Surely if he’d seen Harry’s years here, he’d know what a bastard Snape was. A small part of his mind reminded him of all the good Snape had also done.

Harry bit his lip thoughtfully. He blinked and stopped before he could walk in to a wall. He really needed to pay more attention sometimes. He finally became aware of where he was, he had arrived in front of Snape’s office; he knocked twice on the door and waited for an answer.

“Come in,” a voice drawled from the other side of the door after a few seconds. Harry furrowed his brow, that wasn’t Snape. Harry pushed open the door and stepped inside, he noticed Malfoy was sitting in the chair opposite of Snape’s desk, a blond eyebrow raised.

“Well, well, Scarhead, what are you doing here?”

Harry crossed his arms, “Ferret, where’s Professor Snape?”

“Don’t you know it’s rude to answer a question with another question?” Malfoy drawled, a smirk forming on his face.

“I agree, someone should teach you manners, Malfoy,” Harry smirked back.

A smooth voice was heard before Malfoy could retort, making Malfoy turn towards a door at the end of the room and startling Harry, whose wand slipped in to his hand automatically, but he restrained himself from pointing his wand at the threat and called it back up his sleeve. It was so quick, only Snape caught the movement.

“As much fun as it is watching you two flirt, Mr. Potter, what is it you want with me?” Snape asked, materializing from the shadows.

Harry glanced at Malfoy, before bringing his gaze back to Snape.

“You said you wanted to be there when it was done,” Harry started unsure how vague he could be, “It’s done, but I can see you’re busy so-”

Harry made to back away but Snape spoke before he could take a step, “Potter, I’m coming with you.”

Severus turned to Draco, “When you’re finished, leave, and not a word about this.”

Draco made to protest, but immediately shut his mouth at the look Snape gave him.

Draco nodded, a slight frown on his lips as he looked between Harry and Snape.

“Let’s go, Potter,” Snape said sweeping from the room. Harry nodded and followed him out.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Snape considered the boy beside him, he wanted to ask him a question, but he waited to speak his thoughts until the two were out of earshot of his office and one nosy Slytherin. 

“I did not believe that you would come find me.”

Harry turned to the man beside him in surprise, then looked away, he hesitated before he answered, deciding to be honest, “I wasn’t going to.” 

Snape waited. Seeing the pursed mouth, he knew there was more.

“But, someone reminded me that I had promised to do something and I don’t like to break promises,” Harry said, “Plus, our deal was that you would only be there when I use the potion, not when I retrieve the horcruxes.”

Snape narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to protest, but they had arrived, so he resolved to convince the dunderhead in front of him after they had used the potion.

Harry walked up to the patch of stone and hissed, **“Open.”** Harry took a quick glance around, making sure the room was empty before he went in.

Snape followed him in and Harry located the written instructions.

“My partner wrote down the instructions for us,” Harry said, picking up the piece of paper.

Snape furrowed his brows, “Weren’t the instructions on the scroll?”

Harry paused and shrugged before he handed the instructions over.

Harry watched as Snape carefully read the written instructions. Snape took out his wand and carefully moved it so a small stream of the potion rose from the cauldron and moved along with it.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“This is the horcrux?” Harry asked; he was holding Ravenclaw’s Diadem in his hands. 

“Hmm, I wonder how he got his hands on that one, Rowena kept it very close to her,” Salazar mused.

“It’s not really protected, though, is it?” Harry asked, “I mean, any Ravenclaw that found – Oh.” 

Salazar smirked at the realization on Harry’s face.

“But, knowing how controlling Voldemort can be,” Harry said, his eyebrows scrunched together, “It still doesn’t make sense that he would just leave a horcrux of his lying around where anybody who knew about this room could get to it. Even if the horcrux would be able to possess them.”

“Think about it like this,” Salazar said, “In this whole room, only this would have wards around it, wouldn’t that make this more suspicious and would pique someone’s curiosity even more? Even if Voldemort would have placed more items under wards, it wouldn’t help, someone would eventually find it; and if things are under wards, there must be a reason.”

Harry hummed, that made sense.

“Where will you keep it?”

“For now? I’ll keep it in the chamber,” Harry replied.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry knocked on the entrance to Snape’s office.

“Come in.”

Harry entered and noted that Snape was alone this time.

“I got it,” Harry said closing the door.

Snape motioned for Harry to sit on the chair opposite him. Snape got up and started casting diagnostic spells, while Harry dutifully sat in the chair, moving only slightly.

“Stop fidgeting, Potter,” Snape snapped.

Harry froze.

Snape nodded as a piece of parchment appeared in front of his eyes. His dark eyes quickly scanned the sheet.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news first,” Snape asked after a few more moments.

Alarmed, Harry sat up, “There’s bad news?”

“You can still have children.”

Harry sighed, shaking his head, he should’ve known, “What’s the good news?”

“You’re not cursed.” Snape smirked.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“ **Nightshade** ,” Harry hissed, opening the third compartment of his trunk.

He quickly slipped in and closed the lid. He walked down the stairs and entered his study. Harry swiftly grabbed the floo powder and tossed it in to the fireplace, when the flames turned green, he stuck his head in and called out “Potter Manor." 

Harry closed his eyes so he wouldn’t get dizzy from seeing the rotating fireplaces flying past him. He felt his head stop and opened his eyes. Before him, lay a marble floor, he could see portraits on the far side of the walls, but they were empty.

“Dobby!” Harry called out.

The elf appeared with a pop in front of him, “Master Harry! Dobby is being worried about you!”

Harry smiled, “Hey Dobby! It’s great to see you.”

Dobby sniffled, “Oh! Master Harry is such a kind wizard! He has come to visit Dobby!”

Harry shifted uncomfortably, “Right. How are you Dobby? Do you like it here? Are you getting along with the other elves?”

Dobby nodded, his ears flapping, “Yes! Dobby is loving it here, everyone is kind and all we elves is eagerly waiting for Master Harry! Shall Dobby fetch the Head Elf?”

“Er, sure, Dobby, and while you’re at it, can you get Sirius, tell him he needs to come right away?” Harry asked.

Dobby nodded and happily disappeared to get the previously mentioned people.

A second later, Harry heard another crack, this time an old elf was standing in front of him. Harry could see that the Elf had many wrinkles on his face and around his big green eyes, white hair stuck out of his ears and he was slightly plumper than the other elves Harry had seen. Unlike Dobby, he wore a red and gold uniform with the Potter crest in the middle. Harry assumed the color difference was because he was the Head Elf. He reminded Harry of a miniature Santa Claus.

“Master Potter has finally arrived!” The elf smiled, his eyes shining happily.

“Please, call me Harry. You must be the Head Elf?” Harry asked politely.

The elf nodded and gave a low bow, his long nose brushing the marble floor, “I is Wimbles, Master Harry!”

Harry smiled, “It’s nice to finally meet you Wimbles. Is everything being taken care of?”

Wimbles nodded, “Yes, Master Harry! Ever since Master Sirius has arrived, we all is restoring Potter Manor and getting it ready for Master Harry’s arrival.”

Harry nodded, “Good job. Make sure that you all don’t overwork yourselves, all right? I don’t want you getting sick.”

Wimbles had small tears in his eyes as he nodded happily.

Dobby came bounding in at that moment with Sirius wet and being floated along in just a towel, protesting, behind him.

“Wait! Dobby! I need to get dressed first, Harry can wait!”

Harry burst out laughing at the scene. Sirius stood sopping wet with only a white towel around his waist, Harry could even see some soap spuds on his shoulders. Harry examined Sirius, he looked a lot better: his eyes had lost most of the shadows that had been in them when they had last met, and he had filled out more, instead of being just skin and bones, he now had regained some of his muscles. Sending him to Potter Manor had been a good call after all.

Sirius looked towards where the laughter was coming from and mock scowled, “You think this is funny do you?”

Harry snickered and nodded.

Dobby snapped his fingers and suddenly, Sirius was again floating in the air, “Whoa!”

“Dobby is drying you. Stay still,” Dobby ordered as he snapped his fingers and the water and soap all vanished. Dobby snapped his fingers once more and Sirius’s towel disappeared and was replaced with blue robes.

Harry grinned, “Aw, look, you have a nanny.”

“Brat, you forget that I used to take care of you as a baby,” Sirius grinned, “I still have embarrassing photos.”

Harry grinned, “You’ll have to show me those sometime.”

Sirius grinned, “I will, Pup. So what’s been happening? You’ve barely talked to me since you sent me here.”

Harry smiled apologetically, “I’ve been busy. I’m trying to sharpen my skills for the last task. If I survive that, then I’m in the clear.”

Sirius nodded. He listened as Harry caught him up on what had been happening.

“Sirius, listen, I need you to do me a favor,” Harry said, finally getting to the point.

Sirius, sensing the importance in Harry’s tone, nodded and motioned for him to continue.

“I need you to go to Grimmauld Place. Just for a little while,” Harry added, seeing the look on Sirius’s face, “There’s a gold locket there with an ‘S’ on it in capital letters. It should be in a room that has the initials ‘R.A.B.’ on it. I need you to retrieve it for me, but don’t do anything with it until I get to Potter Manor. Do not wear it. Don’t even touch it. Just bring it here and then ward it with all the wards you know and hide it deep in the manor, okay?”

“Harry, what’s this about?” Sirius asked, from the sounds of it, this locket was extremely dangerous.

Harry shook his head, “I can’t tell you right now. After term ends, I’ll explain it to you in person, I can’t take the risk that someone might overhear.”

Sirius pursed his lips and nodded, “Stay safe, Pup. I mean it. Don’t go looking for trouble.”

Harry smiled, “I’ll try, but trouble usually finds me.”

“I know. Sweet dreams, Pup.”

“You, too. Good night, Siri,” Harry said before he pulled his head out of the fire and sat back, thinking of the task he had given Sirius.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry stifled a pained gasp as his scar burned. He looked through bleary eyes; no one had noticed him except Ron who had been staring at him worriedly. He had looked away when their eyes met. He seemed to know what was going on, but gave no indication of noticing besides the flickering of his eyes. Harry’s eye caught something, a mark on the nape of Ron’s neck, hidden partially by his red hair, but before Harry could focus, a wave of pain washed over him. Harry gritted his teeth and reinforced his Occlumency shields. He breathed deeply through his nose, trying to keep as quiet as possible as images flickered in his mind. He heard Trelawney ‘s voice grow farther away. All he could focus on right now were the scenes playing in his mind’s eye.

The classroom disappeared as the same dark room from his previous visions formed around him. Voldemort’s small body sat in the floating chair; the small, almost skeleton like hand clutched a bone white wand. A man lay at the foot of the chair, shivering as blood red eyes locked on to his form. 

“Wormtail,” the voice rang throughout the room, despite it being only a hiss.

Harry watched as the man shivered at hearing his name, stuttering out a reply and then going on to mumble excuses of why he was late. Harry could see the exact moment Voldemort’s patience drained away, the wand twitched and with a whispered word, Wormtail’s kneeling form collapsed as screams ripped from his throat and his body twisted, trying to lessen the pain in some way. Harry’s lips pulled back in to a cruel smile as he saw the traitor writhe in agony. A small part of him was happy that the man who had led his parents to their demise and guaranteed his friend’s place in Azkaban for 13 years was in pain. The man who had betrayed his friends to serve the Dark Lord was now feeling a small part of the pain that he had inflicted on his friends by betraying them.

Harry felt a soft breeze, he instinctively jerked out of reach, and pain filled his head. Harry opened his eyes to see Trelawney hovering over him.

“Dear boy, are you all right?”

It took him a moment to think through the pain, “Yes, yes I’m fine.”

Harry looked at the woman covered in shawls and smelling of sherry. She nodded and continued with her lesson, making predictions about another death or misfortune of a student that would never occur.

_~Flashback~_

_‘Do you know, Harry, I think she might have been…’ Dumbledore paused, ‘who would have thought? That brings her total of real predictions up to two. I should offer her a pay raise.’_

_Dumbledore smiled as he popped another lemon drop in to his mouth._

_‘Two, Professor?’ Harry asked, ‘What was the first one?’_

_Dumbledore shifted slightly, his twinkling eyes landing on him, ‘Ah, dear boy, nothing of much importance, do not dwell on it, you have exams, yes?’ Dumbledore smiled as he changed the topic._

_~Flashback End~_

Harry blinked out of his thoughts as the bell rang. He gathered his things and quickly left before anyone could speak to him. Just as he was about to leave, his eyes caught Ron’s, but he quickly left, not in the mood to deal with the redhead. Once out of sight of the classroom he paused. Ron. If his suspicions about Ron spying on him for Dumbledore were correct – why else would Dumbledore try to solve their friendship problems – then Dumbledore would know that he’d had a vision and not said anything. Harry sighed and prepared himself to go and have a chat with the headmaster.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry gasped as he was pulled out of the shimmering silver liquid. 

“Professor…” Harry breathed.

“Curiosity is not a bad thing Harry, but we must caution ourselves when we do pursue it,” Dumbledore chided lightly as he closed the cabinet where the pensieve resided.

“What- What was that?” Harry asked, standing up.

“That, Harry, was a pensieve. It helps me to view that which I have already seen. I’ve been looking, and searching, for that one clue, that one thing that I am missing.”

Harry furrowed his brows, the face of Barty Crouch Jr. wouldn’t leave his mind, he decided to see if he could get more information, “Sir?”

Dumbledore turned to look at him.

“Barty Crouch Jr. What happened to him?” Harry asked hesitantly.

Dumbledore shook his head, “He got sentenced to Azkaban. Of course, Barty Sr. had no choice, the evidence was overwhelming. Crouch Jr. died in Azkaban a few years later and his wife, in her grief, died just days later.”

“Oh.” Harry said.

Dumbledore turned to him, “Why do you ask?”

Harry mentally grimaced; he’d have to tell him, “I had a dream about him. Him and Voldemort. You don’t think- Sir, you don’t think that these dreams are actually happening, do you?” Harry looked at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore pursed his lips, then shook his head, “No dear boy, and I suggest you cast these thoughts from your mind. Good night, then.”

Harry hesitated at the clear dismissal, but nodded, “Good night, Sir,” and left.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry paused as he heard a voice that sounded like Snape’s.

“Igor, get out,” Snape hissed. 

“You can’t deny it, Severus, you know he’s getting stronger,” Karkaroff hissed.

The door slammed open and Harry saw the dark mark on Karkaroff’s left arm. He knew that Karkaroff was a death eater, of course, but it was still a surprise seeing the mark in person. Karkaroff, seeing Harry, quickly pulled down his robe sleeve. He sneered and left quickly. Harry would have hightailed it after him, if Snape had not grabbed his shoulder and steered him inside.

“Not so fast Potter,” Snape said.

“Professor?” Harry asked.

“Did you steal from my potions store?” Snape asked, getting straight to the point.

Harry blinked, surprised, and shook his head, “No, not this ye-” He cut himself off, although, judging by Snape’s glare, not early enough. He shrunk back at the look on Snape’s face.

“Um, can I ask what is missing?” Harry asked as Snape turned his back on him to search his potions store.

Snape muttered something about adding more wards before responding, “Boomslang skin, lacewing flies, knotgrass, all ingredients in-”

“Polyjuice potion,” Harry finished as realization settled in. Snape turned around at Harry’s voice.

Harry, too busy connecting the dots, paid no heed to Snape. Polyjuice potion. Barty Crouch. Mad-eye Moody. The Marauder’s Map hadn’t been acting up, it just didn’t show the full name of a person.

Suddenly, Luna’s words came back to him:

_‘Beware of the one you least expect, friend of the one your faith is shaken in, for he is not true to the other, but true to his alleged enemy.’_

“Potter.”

Harry jerked out of his thoughts, “What?”

“Care to share your epiphany?”

Harry pretended to think about it, “No.”

“Potter,” Snape glared, crossing his arms.

“All right, I don’t have any proof,” Harry warned, “But I think Moody is the one stealing from your stores,” Harry finished hesitantly.

“Moody?” Snape asked.

“Something’s off about it,” Harry said, “But I’m sure it’s him.”

“I don’t suppose you would tell me how you arrived at that conclusion?” Snape asked.

Harry shook his head, “It’s a bunch of little things connected together and some of the information is from… other sources.”

Snape raised an eyebrow, then shook his head, “Fine Potter, out of my sight. Straight to bed.”

Harry nodded and left the room. Unfortunately for Snape, Harry had a different destination in mind.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“It’s Moody, isn’t it?” Harry said as a way of greeting as he opened the door to Salazar’s study.

He waited for Salazar to look up from the book he was reading. Salazar sighed, leaning back, he motioned for Harry to sit.

“What I don’t understand, if Moody is a close friend of Dumbledore’s, shouldn’t Dumbledore know when someone is posing as his friend?” Harry asked, “I mean it’s not even for a few days, it’s been nearly a year.”

Salazar raised an eyebrow, “Well, you’ve known you can’t rely on Dumbledore. What are you planning to do?”

Harry bit his lip, “I already have a plan, but it would help to know when he’s planning to cart me off to Voldy.”

Salazar shook his head, “Unfortunately, that won’t be easy. You would either have to use the imperious curse and make him tell you, which would set off the school wards, or use veritaserum and then Obliviate him, which could also backfire if he meets with Voldemort and Voldemort reads his mind. Not to mention, veritaserum is tricky.”

“Veritaserum?” Harry asked.

“A truth telling serum,” Salazar explained absently.

“Can we brew it?”

Salazar shook his head, “It takes a full lunar cycle to brew.”

Harry sighed, “So it wouldn’t be ready in time. I guess I can’t really do anything except prepare and be more cautious around Moody.”

Salazar shook his head, “Do you ever think before you speak?”

“What?” Harry asked defensively, “It’s a good plan!”

“If you start behaving differently around Moody, don’t you think you’ll tip him off?” Salazar asked.

Harry banged his head on the desk, “I hate this.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Animal,” Salazar said.

Sweat rolled down Harry’s neck as he felt the magic wash over him once again. His hands turned in to claws as fur sprouted on every inch of his body. He felt his face elongate and his body lowered on to four legs. 

“Travel.”

Harry turned and entered the shadows behind him and appeared behind Salazar.

“Back.” 

Harry once again turned to go back through the shadow world and appeared in front of Salazar.

“Human.”

Harry turned back in to his human form and just lay on the ground, panting.

“Good enough, I suppose,” Salazar said dismissively.

Harry would have glared if he could be bothered to lift his head, _‘Fifty times! It better well be “Good enough”!’_ Harry thought scathingly.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry breathed in deeply and exhaled then slid in to the shadows behind him, not even a second later, he appeared behind Salazar. He smirked as he saw Salazar bent over a book, not paying him any attention. He silently crept forward. Standing right behind the ghost, Harry opened his mouth. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Harry jumped, not expecting Salazar to speak up. Salazar turned his head to smirk at the teen. Harry pouted as he walked to the front of the desk, “How did you know?”

“Godric used to try sneaking up on me all the time,” Salazar answered, “Now, enough about that. You have mastered shadow travel now? You can do it flawlessly?”

Harry ran a hand through his hair, “I wouldn’t say flawlessly, but I can do it well enough to not hurt myself.”

Salazar nodded, “I suppose this will do. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed. You managed to turn in to your animagus form and use your animagus abilities outside of your animagus form all in time for the Third Task. A little later than I had expected, but you managed nonetheless.”

Harry glared, “A little later? Are you serious!? It takes years to manage the animagus form!”

Salazar raised an eyebrow, “Yes, but you had help from me. Others usually do it alone or with someone else. They’ve never had help from a Founder. Now we can bicker about this all day, or I could teach you that cage spell.”

Harry conceded, “Fine, what do I have to do?”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry looked at himself in the mirror. He was dressed in a black dragonhide jacket, a dark red tank top underneath, black dragonhide pants which were tucked in to his black dragonhide boots: easy to move in, comfortable, and able to blend in. All in all, he looked ready to battle. Harry took a deep breath. He was ready. He had his wand and the diary. This was it, he was sure of it.

Harry walked out to the cheering crowd, eyes only for the maze. The cannon sounded and he was off. He had to get to the cup first.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry cursed at himself as he went back to save Cedric.

“I thought you were going to leave me,” Cedric panted.

“Trust me, you probably would’ve been safer if I had,” Harry replied.

“What?”

“The cup is a portkey Cedric,” Harry explained slowly, as if to a child, “My name was entered without my knowledge. Can you not connect the dots?”

Cedric looked taken aback by Harry’s tone. Harry sighed, “Just, we’ll take the cup together, _but_ ,” Harry stressed, “You must listen to everything I say. If I give you an order, you follow it.”

Cedric crossed his arms, “I’m older than you. You should be following my orders, if anything!”

“Have you faced Voldemort three times and lived? No?” Harry asked, his patience running out, “You following my orders could mean life or death for you. Do we have an agreement?”

Cedric, shocked at this side of Harry, could only nod, “Ok.”

“Right, on three. One.”

“Two.”

“Three!” Harry shouted as they each grabbed a handle. Harry felt a tug at his navel and moments later they lay sprawled on the dirt.

Cedric gave a frightened laugh as he looked around, “Merlin, you were right. This is not the outside of the Quidditch pitch. Where are we?”

Harry looked around, “If I had to guess? Near Voldemort’s hideout,” he said spotting the cauldron with some type of gray liquid in it, a potion perhaps?

Cedric looked at Harry incredulously, “Voldemort’s dead.”

Harry gave a humorless laugh, “Yeah and Merlin is actually evil.”

“Not funny, Ha- Who’s that?” Cedric asked, cutting himself off as he spotted a dark figure moving towards them.

Suddenly, Harry’s head exploded in pain, he closed his eyes and breathed through his mouth, reinforcing his Occlumency shields. The pain dulled, but his peace didn’t last long. Harry felt cold as he heard Voldemort’s voice hiss, “Kill the spare.”

Harry threw out his hand just as Wormtail lifted his wand, “Stupefy,” Harry whispered. The red light shot out of his hand and hit Cedric, making him drop just as the green light sailed over his head and disappeared in to the darkness.

“CEDRIC!” Harry shouted, putting on a show as he collapsed at Cedric’s side. He discretely placed his hand on Cedric’s mouth and muttered, “Enervate.”

“Stay still,” He hissed as Cedric’s eyes snapped open.

“Don’t move a muscle, play dead, no matter what you hear,” Harry hissed.

Harry shot up before Wormtail could get a closer look, “ARRGHH!!! YOU LITTLE RAT!”

Harry pointed his wand at Wormtail, but a jet of red light shot the wand out of his hand, Harry flung his hand behind him, and called the wand back up his sleeve, “No!” Harry said, trying to scramble behind him for his wand, but he felt himself being levitated and bound to a grave. He tried to move, but he was stuck. He could’ve used wandless magic, but Salazar’s warning came to mind, _‘Don’t reveal your hand too quickly.’_

“Do it now!” Voldemort shouted.

“Yes master,” Wormtail whimpered as he dropped Voldemort in to the bubbling cauldron.

Wormtail pointed his wand at the grave, “Bone of the father,” Harry watched as a dirty bone was uprooted from the dirt, “Unwillingly given,” and dropped in to the cauldron. Harry watched in morbid curiosity as Wormtail paused.

“Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed,” Wormtail screamed as he cut off his own hand, dropping it in to the cauldron next.

Harry’s heart stopped for a moment, what was Wormtail trying to do? Surely, surely, he wasn’t- His thoughts were interrupted as Wormtail approached him, “Blood of the enemy, forcibly ta-”

“I GIVE MY BLOOD WILLINGLY!” Harry shouted, desperate to hinder the ritual.

Wormtail stopped, but then continued, “t-taken. The Dark Lord shall rise again!”

Wormtail let the blood drop from the blade and in to the cauldron. The cauldron shook as it started to bubble and suddenly, flames erupted from the cauldron, leaving nothing but a snake like creature.

Harry watched in horror and pain, he’d waited too long to act.

Voldemort grinned, showing white teeth, he held his hands out, “My wand, Wormtail,” he commanded.

The rat inched forward, and placed the bone white wand in to his master’s hand. Voldemort waved the wand and black robes appeared on his thin body.

“Ah, much better,” his gaze turned to Harry and a cruel smile appeared on his lips, “‘I willingly give my blood’? Silly, silly boy, there’s no ‘willing’ when you are trapped,” Voldemort hissed as he laughed. He turned away, “Wormtail! Your arm.”

Sniveling, Wormtail held out his right hand, “Th-thank you master!”

“Not that one, you fool! Your other arm!” Voldemort sneered.

Harry’s heart jumped, reinforcements, and not the good kind, “Not so fast!” Harry shouted.

“Harry, Harry, wait your turn,” Voldemort crooned, as he grabbed Wormtail’s left arm.

Time was running out, Voldemort moved his wand to press against the dark mark adorning Wormtail’s arm, Wormtail screamed as pain raced through his body as the bone white wand dug in to the skull and snake tattoo. 

Harry gritted his teeth as he saw black smoke form in a circle around Voldemort. He had to calm down. Harry focused on his Occlumency shields and pulled them tighter around his mind, forcing his emotions back. The cage, this was his chance. Voldemort assumed he was trapped and wandless. Harry focused his magic around Wormtail; he cast a minor compulsion charm to make the rat stay where he was.

One by one, Death Eaters appeared, Voldemort waited as they all gathered around him. Harry ignored them, he concentrated harder, using the spell Tom Riddle had used in Harry’s second year. Fiery runes appeared around Wormtail, but Harry quickly cast a Notice-Me-Not charm on the area around Wormtail’s feet.

“I-I returned, M-master,” Wormtail said, not moving from his spot.

“Out of fear! Not loyalty,” Voldemort said, “However, even in you fear, you did me a great service, and so you shall be rewarded.”

Harry’s heart pounded in his chest as Voldemort neared the runes, but thankfully he stopped a foot away. Harry bit his lip as Voldemort created a silver hand out of thin air for Wormtail.

“Thank you, master, oh, thank you!” Wormtail sniveled.

Harry saw as Voldemort’s attention turned to Cedric; Harry quickly put the last rune in place, now all he would have to do was activate it. Just as Voldemort reached Cedric, Harry shouted out, drawing attention to him and away from Cedric, “DON’T TOUCH HIM!”

“Ah, Harry,” Voldemort said, pulling his foot back before it could touch Cedric’s still warm face.

Harry internally breathed a sigh of relief; outwardly, however, he had a glare on his face. Harry needed to time this right, or with the amount of Death Eaters, he’d be Avada Kedavra’d so many times, he’d be dead 10 times over.

“Shall I tell you what really happened that night?” Voldemort asked, “How I was supposedly defeated by a mere child? You see, when sweet Lily Potter, sacrificed herself, she invoked an ancient magic…”

Harry mentally rolled his eyes, Voldemort sure loved to hear himself talk. Harry focused back on Voldemort as he approached him. Harry clenched his jaw and tightened his Occlumency shields; he wouldn’t give Voldemort the satisfaction of hearing him scream.

“But now,” Voldemort’s lips bulled back in a cruel grin, “Now! I can touch him!” and he pressed a bony finger to Harry’s scar.

Voldemort looked at Harry in surprise when he didn’t hear Harry scream. Harry smirked; he cast a Notice-Me-Not charm on himself and fell in to the shadows of the grave.

“Potter!” Voldemort roared as he watched Harry disappear.

Harry appeared behind the kneeling Wormtail, he cast a silencing charm, then he quickly murmured a sticking charm, so the rat couldn’t move from his spot, and summoned Wormtail’s wand from his pocket. He caught the wand in his hand and placed it in his pocket. He also placed the rat under a body bind for good measure, so he couldn’t move at all. All of this was done in seconds.

“Now, now Voldemort, no need to shout, I’m right here,” Harry said after he had disabled Wormtail and removed the Notice-Me-Not charm from himself.

All the Death Eaters’ wands flew up to point at Harry.

Voldemort whirled around, “Stop! All of you! Lower your wands! Potter is mine to kill!” He hissed. Hesitantly, each Death Eater lowered his wand. Voldemort sneered, “Potter want’s to play with the big boys. I see the old coot has been training his golden boy.”

Harry sneered, “Don’t you dare take that fool’s name. He’s done nothing! This is between me and you.”

Voldemort cocked his head, interest sparking in his eyes, “Oh?”

“I want information and you will give it to me, but first, I’ll let you dismiss your minions,” Harry said.

Voldemort looked at Harry in amusement, “And why would I do that?”

Harry smirked, “I was hoping you’d ask that.”

His wand now pointed at Voldemort, Harry reached in to his back pocket with his other hand and pulled out a black diary.

Voldemort’s eyes widened at seeing this, but they narrowed back in to slits, “What is that?”

“Shall I reveal your little secret, Voldemort? Or rather, secrets?” Harry asked, a promise in his emerald eyes, “About how you really survived?”

“Where did you get that?” He hissed, his wand now pointed at Harry, and in turn at Wormtail, who was stuck between them.

“Why don’t you ask Lucius?” Harry said smiling, “After all, he’s the one who gave it to me, don’t worry, I’ll wait.”

Voldemort growled and spun to face Lucius who dropped to his knees, muttering, “No, it can’t be! It was destroyed!”

Voldemort stalked up to Lucius and pulled him up by his hair.

“My Lord, I-” Lucius floundered for an excuse.

“Drop your shields,” Voldemort commanded.

Lucius nodded quickly, and did as told, dropping his Occlumency shields.

While all eyes were on Voldemort and Lucius, Harry silently pointed his wand at the kneeling man and placed a Notice-Me-Not charm on Wormtail, a smirk formed on his face as he moved his wand around Wormtail, who squeaked and tried to move away, but the sticking charm to his feet and body bind had him effectively trapped with nowhere to run.

“Activate,” Harry murmured, the flaming runes whirled around Wormtail in a red blaze of fire and formed a square box around him. The sides of the box were covered in fiery runes, and no matter how much Pettigrew struggled, he wouldn’t be able to escape, not even in his animagus form.

Harry glanced around and noted that none of the Death Eaters were paying him any attention, all eyes still on Voldemort. He turned his attention away from the panicking Wormtail to Voldemort as Voldemort withdrew from Lucius’s mind. In a rage, he tossed Lucius to the ground and turned his attention back to Harry.

“That book is a fake,” Voldemort said, his fury making his eyes glow.

Harry shook his head, “No. I told Dumbledore that I left the book in the chamber and that it was destroyed; he made a duplicate, which he showed to Lucius. I also have a certain Diadem. I made sure to pour a slow acting poison on it before coming here. If I don’t get back soon, what will happen to it without the antidote? **Shall we talk now?** ”Harry finished in a hiss.

Voldemort’s eye narrowed, “Death Eaters! You are all dismissed!”

Harry watched as each of the Death Eaters disappeared with a crack.

“Cedric, go fetch the cup, would you?” Harry called.

Voldemort’s eyes widened and his fury grew as Cedric got up, a little paler than usual due to the fact that the Dark Lord was standing feet away from him, but alive.

“H-harry?” Cedric asked, scared out of his wits, but managing to hold his own.

“Get the cup then come here, it’s a portkey,” Harry ordered.

Cedric nodded and ran to the portkey, then to Harry’s side, his hand on Harry’s shoulder, in case the portkey activated.

Before Voldemort could make a move to kill Cedric, Harry removed the Notice-Me-Not charm from Wormtail’s cage.

Voldemort’s eyes widened as he saw his trapped servant, he made to point his wand at the cage, but Harry stopped him by pointing his wand at the book, “Ah, ah, ah. I need him to prove a relative of mine innocent and I won’t be going back without him.”

 **“Accio diary!”** Voldemort hissed, but Harry was ready for it.

 **“Protego!”** Harry shouted back in Parseltongue, he had cast a sticking charm on the book so that it wouldn’t leave his hand, but that didn’t mean that his hand hadn’t been yanked forward.

“What do you want, Potter?” Voldemort asked through clenched teeth.

Harry smiled, “That’s more like it,” the smile vanished from his face, “I know that the Potters were against you, but when you came after them, they were in hiding. Why were they hiding? Why did you target them specifically?”

Voldemort gave a cruel grin as something clicked, “You don’t know.”

Voldemort gave a high-pitched laugh, “I see Dumbledore has kept his golden boy in the dark, has he?”

Harry scowled, “Tell me, or I destroy the book.”

Voldemort’s laughter cut short at that, “How about I make you a deal?”

“No deals! Tell me what I want to know!” Harry said, he could feel Cedric shaking behind him.

“Give me the book and I’ll tell you,” Voldemort said, “After all, you have another one of my… possessions at the castle, do you not?”

Harry pursed his lips.

“Harry,” Cedric warned, a hand on his shoulder.

“You first,” Harry said.

Voldemort frowned, “How do I know that you will keep your word?”

“I, Harry James Potter, swear on my life to give Lord Voldemort his diary back, if he gives me the information I want,” Harry said, “So mote it be.”

“So mote it be,” Voldemort said, a flash of light signaled the binding of the oath, “There is a prophecy. It revealed that a baby, whose parents had thrice defied me, born at the end of July, would be my downfall.”

Harry blinked; he opened his mouth, then closed it, opened it again, and then closed it again. Soon, the shock receded and anger settled in, “You went after me because of something as stupid as a prophecy?!” He asked, furious. His life had been ruined because of something as unreliable as a prophecy?

“Harry!” Cedric warned as the cup started glowing.

Voldemort ignored Harry, “The book.”

Harry gritted his teeth, he felt Cedric squeeze his shoulder in warning; Harry flung the book at Voldemort and pointed his wand at it, “REDUCTO!”

Harry felt a tug at his navel, and he quickly grabbed Wormtail’s cage. He heard Voldemort scream just as he was portkey’d away.

Harry landed with a thump on the hard ground in front of the stands. Cheering was heard throughout the Quidditch pitch. Harry quickly shrunk the cage with Wormtail in it (who had turned in to his animagus form to try and escape) and placed it in his pocket. He grabbed Cedric before he could move from where he had landed.

“Cedric. Cedric!” Harry called, shaking him out of his dazed fear.

“H-Harry! It was him! H-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! You were right!” Cedric said, shaking his head, coming out of the stupor that the adrenaline draining from his body had left him in.

“Listen to me!” Harry said urgently, as the stands emptied to congratulate the winners, “You can’t tell anyone! Do you hear me?”

Cedric finally looked at Harry properly, “What do you mean? They have to know!”

“I know,” Harry said, “But not now, first we tell Dumbledore, ok?”

Cedric shook his head, “No! We have to warn them!”

“Cedric!” Harry snapped, shaking him, “We tell Dumbledore first, okay?”

“Dumbledore?” Cedric asked.

Harry nodded, “Ok?”

Cedric nodded, “Ok, but you are telling me what is going on, later.”

Harry nodded and patted Cedric on the back, “Smile Cedric, we won the TriWizard Tournament.”

Cedric laughed humorlessly as the Hogwarts student population surrounded them; cheers erupted all around them as Hufflepuff and Gryffindor each lifted their respective Champions on to their shoulders and carried them inside Hogwarts and to the Great Hall.

Bagman’s voice boomed over their heads as he declared Hogwarts the winner and announced the end of the TriWizard Tournament.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

***Aidôneus: Greek, means "unseen one", and refers to Hades. I thought it would sound cool for an ancient invisibility spell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emerald: I’m sorry this is so late! I meant to have it out weeks ago, but I wanted it to be as perfect as possible. I was so excited in finally writing the third task that I could barely get through writing the stuff that came before. I was going to stop this right in the middle of Harry facing Voldemort and leave a huge cliffy, but I figured it’s already late enough, and you guys might just kill me if I did that *grins*.
> 
> Thank you to all those that commented and wished me a Happy Birthday! It was amazing and reading your comments and wishes was one of the best presents I got! Thank you to those who also gave Kudos and subscribed to my story *does happy dance*! I’m so glad you enjoy my writing! I love you all!!!
> 
> Oh! Tell me if you think I made Cedric too OOC. I feel like he shouldn’t be too scared, but this is Voldemort he was facing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: The saying “the path to hell is paved with good intentions,” will apply to Dumbles in every possible way. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; do not sue me.
> 
> Pairings: Still haven’t decided.

“Talking” 

_‘Thinking’_

**“Parseltongue”**

_Harry Writing_

_ Tom Writing _

**_SOUND EFFECTS_ **

_________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Salazar knew exactly when Hadrian left Hogwarts. He could feel the wards bending around the portkey to let it through. He set down his glass, watching as the red liquid shimmered inside. Then he lifted his hand and wandlessly summoned a scroll from the top of the bookshelf.

Opening it, he hissed, “ **Reveal the secret.** ” 

On the parchment, the words for the horcrux potion shimmered and then changed, twisting and moving to reveal a different arrangement of letters.

There was much work to be done if he wanted to follow through with his plans. Amber eyes moved over the parchment, skimming the words until he found the ones he wanted:

**“Mending Another’s Soul”**

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Voldemort screamed, enraged as the spell hurtled towards his horcrux.

**“Protego!”**

The spell bounced off of the shield and shattered a headstone as the book slid to a stop at his feet. He knew this was his first horcrux, he could feel the familiar magic, his soul reaching out to him, even from the distance that Potter had held it hostage. Voldemort summoned the book to his hand. A breath left his lipless mouth as a jolt ran through his body at the feeling of his horcrux so close to him. He placed the book in an inner pocket of his robes. He never noticed the magic in the diary awaken, nor did he notice the soul in the diary stirring as it came so close to its original soul, the closest it had ever been in nearly half a century.

What he did notice, was the clarity he felt penetrating his mind, clearing away the rage he felt and making way for the calculating calm to settle in. He decided that for now, he would keep the diary close to him. He did not trust it with any of his followers and he would check up on his other horcruxes. The Diadem was lost to him, but the others he could protect better. Loath as he was to admit it, Potter’s knowledge of them had shaken him. How much did the boy know? There was much work to be done.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

 “Welcome to the TriWizard Tournament: Hogwarts Ceremony!” Bagman announced as everyone had finally gathered in the Great Hall. The four long tables were filled with more students than ever, as the three schools gathered to celebrate the end of a dangerous tournament with, thankfully, no casualties. An addition had been made to the hall, with the usual five tables; a round table had been added in the space between the House tables and the Professors’ table just to the side, where the four champions now sat. The Professors’ table had also been lengthened to accommodate the Heads of the foreign schools, as well as the judges for the third task, and the Minister of Magic. 

“Before we announce our winners, even though we all know who it is,” Bagman paused as cheers erupted from all of the Hogwarts students and even a few of the teachers were clapping; he grinned and waited for the cheers to die down, “Minister Fudge, would like to say a few words.”

Fudge stood from the Professors’ table in all his bowler-hatted glory and made his way to the front; he cleared his throat, before puffing out his chest and beginning: “Yes, yes, thank you Mr. Bagman. Though this tournament hasn’t been exactly traditional, the British Ministry is pleased to note that there have been no casualties due to the precautions that have been taken by the British Ministry of Magic and we are all glad that all our champions are safe and sound. Furthermore…” Fudge said, his eyes glancing over the students of all three schools.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Harry sat with the other champions, pretending to pay attention as the Minister droned on about what part the Ministry had in the tournament, but his attention was solely upon the fake Moody, trying to assess his reaction at both Harry and Cedric’s arrival outside the maze, still alive and not shouting that Voldemort was back.

After Harry had talked to Cedric and secured his cooperation, Harry had seen the fake Moody trying to get to them, but had been unsuccessful due to the hoard of ecstatic Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students at their victory. As of yet, nothing had happened. He seemed angry, but that could have easily been mistaken for his annoyance at Fudge.

Harry’s lips quirked, while fake Moody had been unsuccessful in getting through the throng of students, Madam Pomfrey however, had been more than successful in parting the seas. The circular table was there – put in by Dumbledore – so she could hover around the champions and check them for damage attained during the maze while loudly complaining to the Minister that he should really wait until at the very least tomorrow so that she could keep all the champions under observation at the Hospital Wing. The Minister had simply smiled and said it was just best to be done now, seeing as the students wouldn’t be sleeping anyways.

Madam Pomfrey had frowned and tried to convince the Minister to no avail as she continued checking over him and Cedric. While this was going on, the other professors had brought in Fleur and Viktor, who had been unconscious inside the maze. They had been revived and checked over, given a few potions, and when Madam Pomfrey had finally been satisfied (as much as she could, given the circumstances), the Hogwarts Ceremony had begun an hour later. 

Yes, the _Hogwarts_ Ceremony had begun, meaning they would have another official ceremony in public, with all the parents, reporters and annoyances there to ogle and take pictures. Harry gave a mental sigh and glanced at Cedric, only to blink in surprise as he saw that the older boy was trembling slightly, his right hand pressing hard against his mouth. Harry subtly moved his hand to grip Cedric’s left forearm under the table, trying to ground him. Cedric glanced at him, it took a few seconds, but he calmed down, taking his hand away from his mouth.

Harry’s own Occlumency was at full force, keeping him from thinking about all the information he had learned in the graveyard. It wouldn’t do to fall into a rage right now. His emerald eyes glinted under his bangs, he needed to be alone when he broke everything around him, it wouldn’t do to alert the school to his rage and make people leery.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

To say Cedric was scared, was an understatement. He was downright terrified. Voldemort was back; and if that wasn’t enough, he’d witnessed Harry _blackmail_ the _Dark Lord_. He hadn’t had time to panic before but now that he was out of danger and his adrenaline had drained out of him, the events in the graveyard had slowly sunk in. Cedric slid his hand over his mouth to try and muffle his panicked breaths. What was that boy playing at? Cedric shut his eyes, trying to calm down.

He didn’t remember much from when the Dark Lord still roamed free, he was only four after all, but he’d heard the horror stories, and what he did remember from that time was the constant air of fear around him. Everyone was terrified, and him being so little, didn’t understand it. All the people who were bigger than him, stronger than him, they were all scared. They were all scared of the monster in the shadows.

Cedric clenched his hand as he felt that fear come back, but this time it brought with it the face of the snake-like demon that he’d encountered in the graveyard and the feeling of dark magic encompassing him, suppressing him from all sides. Cedric had never been very sensitive to magic, no more than the average wizard, but the Dark Lord’s magic… Cedric felt sick. His head hurt and he couldn’t think. _He_ _couldn’t think._ He couldn’t _breathe._  

Cedric was brought out of his panicking thoughts by a strong grip on his forearm, slamming his mind back to the ground and in to reality. He glanced at Harry, startled.

Harry.

Harry: the one who defeated the Dark Lord when he was only a year and a half old.

Harry: the one who _blackmailed_ the Dark Lord and lived.

Harry: the one who had saved his life.

Harry: the one who was sitting here calmly beside him, grounding him.

Cedric mentally shook his head. Harry should be the one freaking out; after all, it was _Harry_ the Dark Lord was after. Not him. Not Cedric. And here he was, freaking out like a child who was afraid of the monsters under his bed. He felt the pressure lessen on his arm to pull away; he immediately grabbed Harry’s hand, startling Harry, who looked at him curiously.

Cedric didn’t like it, but he knew he needed something to hold, to remind him that he wasn’t alone in what he’d been through. To remind him that someone had it worse. No matter how terrible that sounded of him.

Harry seemed to understand this and let his hand remain in Cedric’s own, squeezing it to reassure him. Cedric gave a small grateful smile.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry was startled when a gasp effectively interrupted the Minister’s speech, carrying throughout the hall, every head turned to look at the student, who simply pointed at Moody.

Heads snapped towards the ex-Auror, who was shaking violently in his seat. Everyone watched in stunned silence as dark grey hair turned sandy blond; the scarred face morphing in to one that was quite young and scar less. As the transformation was coming to an end, Moody’s magical eye popped out, landing on the teacher’s table, waking the teachers from their shocked states. Immediately, seven stunners slammed in to the fake Moody, everyone looked to see Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Vector, and Babbling, all holding out wands pointed to the now fully transformed young man, who was definitely not Alastor Moody.

Stunned silence spread throughout the hall as the imposter was revealed.

Fudge sputtered as one name was heard throughout the hall, “C-Crouch Jr.?”

“Wh-what is he doing here?! He’s supposed to be dead!” Fudge exploded, sending the students in to hushed whispers, each trying to find out what was happening. Dumbledore held up a hand and silence ensued immediately; no one wanted to interrupt him, as they were all curious to what was happening.

Harry’s attention was pulled from the revealed Barty to Cedric who had yet to let go of him, his grip only tightening.

Dumbledore beckoned all the adults to him, after a few words, Snape left the Great Hall through the door behind the teachers’ table and McGonagall turned to the seated students, immediately catching their attention.

“Prefects, escort your houses to their common rooms,” She started to say, but immediately, the students began to shout in protest.

“We should be able to stay!” A student yelled.

“That man was impersonating a teacher and teaching us all year, we deserve to know what’s going on!” another student shouted, followed by a roar of agreements.

“That’s quite enough,” Dumbledore said, turning away from his conversation with the Minister and silencing the hall with a stern look, “You will go to your dorms and if there is anything that you must be aware of, you will find out. Now, Heads of Houses, please escort your houses to their common rooms. Professor Sinistra, if you would take Slytherin, and Professor Vector, if you would take back Gryffindor that would be great. Madam Pomfrey, if you would take our champions to the Hospital Wing, that would also be much appreciated.”

Everyone understood that this was not a suggestion and the teachers hurried to comply, gathering the students and leading them out of the Great Hall.

Madame Maxine ushered her students to their carriages with a simple gesture, while Karkaroff’s voice boomed out over the students, “Durmstrang students! Return to the ship!”

“Harry!” Cedric hissed.

Harry turned his head, “What?”

Cedric gestured with his hands towards the teachers, whom were now levitating an unconscious Barty Crouch Jr. to the Headmaster’s office. Harry looked at them and looked back at Cedric, raising an eyebrow.

“Graveyard?” Cedric looked annoyed now.

“Oh yeah, that,” Harry said, as if just remembering.

“Yes, that,” Cedric said, his tone definitely more annoyed than before. Which was much better in Harry’s opinion. If Cedric was annoyed, then he wasn’t freaking out…much.

“You really wanna do this with the Minister here?” Harry asked, his eyebrow rose questioningly.

“This is kind of important,” Cedric said, definitely annoyed now by how nonchalant Harry was.

“Fine, fine, let’s go,” said Harry, finally standing up from his seat.

“And just where do you think you’re going young man?” Madam Pomfrey asked from behind him.

Harry plastered on an innocent smile before turning around and facing the school’s very own Dragon Lady, “To the headmaster’s office?”

“Oh, and why is that?”

“Um, Cedric has something he wants to tell the Headmaster,” Harry said quickly turning to Cedric.

Cedric gave Harry a dirty look as Madam Pomfrey was turning to look at him, Harry smiled innocently back, “Mr. Diggory?” she said in a questioning tone as she crossed her arms and waited for his reply.

“I…have to…tell him about the Sphinx,” Cedric said slowly.

Madam Pomfrey blinked, clearly she was not expecting that, “What about the Sphinx?”

Harry raised an eyebrow, where was Cedric going with this?  
  
“Yes, Harry and I met the Sphinx at the same time and we solved the riddle but she wouldn’t let both of us pass unless we agreed to a favor and we need to be in Professor Dumbledore’s office to carry out the favor in 10 minutes,” Cedric said, “So, uh, we have to go,” Cedric finished. He grabbed Harry and sprinted to the door where the teachers had exited, not giving Madam Pomfrey a chance to respond. 

“We’ll be back! Don’t wor-” Harry called, but was cut off by the door closing behind him.

Cedric sighed as the door closed, then turned and glared at Harry, “Thanks for putting me on the spot.”

Harry grinned and started walking, “You’re welcome, but don’t relax yet, she isn’t one to give up.”

Cedric raised an eyebrow as the door rattled behind him, “I’m not an idiot.”

Harry was surprised, “When did you-” 

Cedric snorted, twirling his wand in his fingers, “Please Harry, give me some credit. I was chosen to be a Hogwarts Champion for a reason.”

Harry smiled sheepishly as they walked towards the Headmaster’s office. Harry paused as he felt the cage in his pocket, a memory running through his head, of the Minister not believing him about Sirius the first time. It would be better if he could have the head of the DMLE there. Sirius had mentioned her previously as a fair person. Her name was Amelia Bones if he wasn’t mistaken.

Cedric looked back at Harry as he noticed that the younger boy had stopped walking, “What’s wrong?”

“Amelia Bones is the head of the DMLE, right?”

Cedric nodded, “Yea, so?”

Harry simply lifted his wand, “Expecto Patronum!”

A silvery stag burst from his wand and cantered around for a few seconds before coming to stand in front of Harry.

Harry coaxed the stag’s mouth open and touched the tip of his wand to the stag’s tongue and spoke, “Find: Amelia Bones. Tell her that a convicted Death Eater was impersonating Alastor Moody and to floo to the Headmaster’s Office straight away,” Harry said.

As soon as Harry pulled his wand away, the stag transformed in to a small ball of light and disappeared through the wall. Harry turned back to see Cedric with a stunned expression.

“Shall we go?” Harry asked, breaking Cedric out of his daze.

Cedric shook his head as they resumed walking, “I heard rumors that you were able to produce a corporeal patronus, but I never thought,” Cedric shook his head, “I don’t know why I’m so surprised, after I literally watched you _blackmail_ the Dark Lord.”

Harry stopped again, this time looking around and was relieved to find them in a corridor with no portraits. He took out his wand and put up a silencing charm, just to be safe.

“Listen, Cedric, about that, you can’t tell _anyone_ ,” Harry stressed, “I could get into a lot of trouble and I have my hands full with one madman after my life, I don’t need to have it complicated any further.”

“But shouldn’t Dumbledore know about this?” Cedric asked, “And if we don’t tell them, how do we explain our escape?”

“Don’t worry about that, just let me do the talking. All I need you to do, is back me up.”

Cedric frowned, “But, whatever you have over the Dark Lord, could help defeat him, shouldn’t you tell Dumbledore, at the very least?”

“No!” Harry shook his head.

Cedric was surprised at Harry’s almost panicked tone.

“Why not? Whatever you have over him could help save a lot of lives!” Cedric argued, crossing his arms.

Harry blew out a breath, calming himself down, and mirrored Cedric’s stance, “It could,” Harry agreed, “But it could also ruin a lot of lives. You have no idea the amount of damage this information can do. Cedric, the world isn’t black and white. There is a reason that Voldemort fears this information getting out. And for that matter, so do I. You can’t tell _anyone_. Not Dumbledore, not the Minister, _no one_.”

“If no one knows about this, then how are we going to take down Voldemort,” Cedric asked, a challenge in his eyes.

Harry’s brow arched, “‘we’? I don’t think so. I’m taking care of it. I’ve-”

“You’re taking care of it?” Cedric interrupted, incredulous, “You’re 14! No matter how talented you are; you’re going to need help!”

“Cedric, you don’t have all the facts! Just trust me, please. Will you back me up or not?” Harry asked, a firm set to his mouth.

Cedric pursed his lips, “Fine, but I want answers after this, and I mean I want to know everything, not just a cursory explanation.”

Harry bit his lip, “It’ll be dangerous, you realize this, right? Only a select few people know.” 

Cedric nodded.

Harry sighed and nodded, “Alright, I suppose it’s only fair since I did drag you into this. One more thing,” Harry said, stopping Cedric from resuming his walk to the Headmaster’s Office.

“What?”

“Don’t look Dumbledore in the eye,” Harry said, making sure his tone conveyed how serious he was.

Cedric blinked, “What? Why?”

“Dumbledore is a Legilimens,” Harry said.

Cedric raised an eyebrow, “Harry, that doesn’t mean that he’s going to read his students’ minds. There is a law against using legilimency on minors. He could get in big trouble. Also, despite your mistrust of the Headmaster, which I assume you’ll be explaining to me later, he does have morals. He wouldn’t violate someone’s privacy, much less a minor’s.”

Harry sighed and shook his head, “Cedric, we need to get going and I’m not about to stand here and argue with you over this. Just don’t look him in the eyes, ok?”

Cedric rolled his eyes, but agreed anyway as they resumed walking towards Dumbledore’s office.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

His head was pounding. What had happened? He groaned, had his father put him back under the imperious? No, that couldn’t be it. He wouldn’t feel so sore if that were true. He tried to move his hands, but found that he couldn’t. He felt ropes binding him to a hard surface, a chair? He felt liquid on his tongue and reflexively swallowed. There was a strange calm that suddenly settled over his mind, his headache had mysteriously vanished.

“Can you hear me?”

Barty struggled to open his eyes; he knew that voice, where had he heard it before? Finally forcing his eyelids open, he was blinded by a silvery beard.

“Ah, awake I see, how are you feeling?”

An unintelligible grumble made its way out of his throat. The man smiled at the response and continued, “What is your name?”

Barty blinked, his name? His name… His name… the fog that permeated his mind was making it hard to think… His name was… suddenly, memories rushed in to his head. The Dark Lord. Potter. Diggory. Moody.

He was… Alastor Moody.

No, no. Right now… right now, he was…

“Barty C-Crouch Jr.” The words made him frown as they forced their way out of his mouth, that wasn’t who he was supposed to be. The unsettling calm was still blanketing his mind, making it hard to think.

“It seems the Veritaserum is working,” Dumbledore announced needlessly.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and everyone turned around, ready to see who had interrupted. Just as Dumbledore nodded to Severus to open the door, the fireplace in the office flared to life, and outstepped Amelia Bones. Her stern gaze sweeping around the room, taking in all the details, and landing on the nervous Minister, her gaze narrowing, “Minister, I hope you were not about to interrogate a suspect without informing me.”

“A-Amelia, w-what are you doing here?”

The fireplace flared up again and this time an Auror stepped through and quickly made room once more as the fireplace roared with emerald flames and another Auror followed through.

“Kingsley! Dawlish! What are you two doing here?” The Minister asked, his nervousness now under control.

Severus didn’t bother to listen to the Minister as he turned and opened the door, only to see Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter standing before him.

“Why am I not surprised?” Severus drawled as he ushered the two in.

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Diggory, I thought I told you to go to the Infirmary,” Dumbledore said sternly.

“Well, I thought that since I was the one to call Madam Bones here, it was only right that I be here as well. Cedric is here as a witness to a few things that happened during the third task that ties into this,” Harry explained smoothly, “I do not exactly trust the Minister to deal with these things with a level head. After all, we all know what happened at the end of last year when two of my friends and I tried to tell him the truth about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. The man simply cannot admit he was wrong.”

The Minister spluttered and glared at Harry, “I am the Minister of Magic and I will not tolerate any disrespect, boy! You may be the Boy-Who-Lived, but you will show the Minister of Magic proper respect! You have no idea what you are talking about! You were confused and clearly under Black’s spell!”

Harry ignored him and turned to Amelia Bones, who was scrutinizing him, “Would you mind proving that the message sent to me was from you?”

Harry shook his head and recited the spell once more and a silver stag burst forth from his wand, galloping towards the woman and dissipating just as it reached her.

Amelia nodded, “I thank you for notifying me Mr. Potter, and I shall find time for us to talk about Sirius Black, as it seems that there were certain things that I was not informed of, but now,” she turned away from him to address the hippogriff in the room, “I believe that you were going to start interrogating Mr. Crouch, here. As the head of the DMLE is here and two Aurors are present as well, this will be an official interrogation,” she began, pulling out a small clear sphere. She set it on the desk and with a series of taps from her wand, activated the sphere.

She turned to the other teachers in the room who had come up after settling the students in their dorms, “Everyone except Supreme Mugwump Dumbledore, Minister Fudge, Witnesses Potter and Diggory, please exit the office at once. Headmistress Maxine, Headmaster Karkaroff, you must also exit. This has become an official Ministry investigation. If there is any danger to you or any information that applies to you, you will be notified.”

There were several protests, but Amelia held up a hand, silencing them immediately, “You all have students to tend to and I’m sure the Headmaster will be willing to give you any information that pertains to you after the interrogation is over. As for Ludo and Mr. Weasley, you are still needed at the Ministry, I suggest you get going.”

Bagman sulked, but nonetheless moved to the fireplace to use the floo, Percy following him in a slight daze.

Madame Maxine and Karkaroff nodded once to the Head of the DMLE, Minister Fudge, and Dumbledore then turned and headed out of the office, back to their students.

Harry glanced at Severus, grabbing his attention, “Do you know the animagus reversal spell?”

Severus raised an eyebrow but nodded.

“Madam Bones,” Harry called as the teachers filed out one by one, when he saw that he had her attention, he continued, “I would like for you to allow Professor Snape to be here, he’s needed for an explanation about what happened during the third task.”

Amelia considered him for a moment, and then gave a sharp nod, “Very well. Kingsley, I want you to ask the questions. I assume he has already taken Veritaserum?”

“Yes, but considering how long it has been due to the continued distractions, we may need to re-administer it, while the effects will not fade completely without the antidote, they can weaken if left for too long,” Snape explained, “Especially if the target is well-versed in Occlumency.”

Amelia nodded, “Better safe than sorry. If you will then.”

Snape stepped forward and forced open the clenching mouth and dropped three more drops down the bound man’s throat.

“The formal interrogation of the Death Eater impersonating Alastor Moody will now begin,” Amelia nodded to Kingsley and he stepped forward.

“What is your name?”

“Barty Crouch Jr.”

“How did you escape from Azkaban?” Kingsley asked.

“My mother, she loved me and convinced my father to have her take my place. She was dying and wanted me to live. My father could not ignore my mother’s last wish and agreed. Using Polyjuice, he snuck me out on his last visit to Azkaban and my mother was careful to continue taking Polyjuice until the very end.”

“Why were you impersonating Alastor Moody?”

“I was to deliver Potter to the Dark Lord,” a crazed smile graced the otherwise blank expression, “I put his name in the Goblet of Fire and made sure he was the one to get to the cup by eliminating the competition!”

Eyes widened as they listened to the man spilling the Dark Lord’s plan. Transporting Potter to the graveyard and using a ritual to bring back the Dark Lord’s body with the help of another Death Eater.

Finally, it seemed that Minister Fudge had had enough, “The Dark Lord is dead! Clearly, the man is delusional!”

Before anyone could say anything, Harry stepped forward, “Not quite, and this is the reason that I wanted Madam Bones here.”

“What are you talking about, boy?” the Minister spat out. He would’ve gone on, but Amelia cut him off, “Care to explain Mr. Potter?”

“Cedric and I reached the TriWizard Cup at the same time and decided to take it together. Imagine our surprise when instead of appearing at the outside of the maze, we were transported to a graveyard where Cedric was stunned and I was bound to a tombstone by Pettigrew, who was there to-”

“LIES!” the Minister shouted, “You-Know-Who is dead! And so is Pettigrew! I will put a stop to this nonsense at once. This man will be sentenced to the kiss immediately!”

“Now, now Cornelius,” Dumbledore tried to calm the man, but the Minister simply ignored him, continuing his rant, “No Dumbledore! These lies have gone on far enough. Just because this Death Eater believes what he says is the truth, does not make it so! I will put a stop to this nonsense!”

Amelia shook her head and frowned at the Minister.

Harry sighed as the Minister raged on. How to convince the idiot without tipping his hand too soon? He looked around the room and a silvery glow caught his eye. A slow smile began to form on his face as he drew his wand, “Accio Pensieve!”

Everyone quieted as the aforementioned object flew over their heads to land in Harry’s hands, “Professor, I hope you won’t mind our use of your pensieve to view my memories?”

Dumbledore shook his head, “By all means, my boy.”

Harry placed the pensieve on the desk and touched his wand to his temple and thought of how much he wanted to show everyone. He decided he’d show them from the time he was stuck to the tombstone until Voldemort had tried to cause him pain by touching him. That would be sufficient evidence of his return and wouldn’t reveal much of Harry’s abilities.

After he put the memory in the pensieve, Harry turned to look at Fudge; “It seems Minister, that you won’t believe me until I show you irrevocable proof, but believe me,” Harry’s voice turned cold, the anger he felt for the Minister leaking in to his tone, “If I have to drag you kicking and screaming to the truth, I will.”

The Minister gaped, furious at the audacity of the boy before him, but before he could say anything, Amelia Bones spoke up, “Dawlish, Kingsley, stay here with the prisoner, find out where Alastor is being held and contact someone to go and get him, once you have found his whereabouts, follow protocol and take the prisoner to the holding cells where he will await a second trial. Misters Potter and Diggory, you will accompany everyone else in to the memory,” Amelia Bones ordered.

Fudge narrowed his eyes and walked over to the desk and waited for all the others to gather around so that they could begin viewing the memories.

As soon as everyone was gathered, they each put a finger in to the swirling memories; with a tug, all the bodies surrounding the pensive were sucked in to the basin, leaving only Kingsley and Dawlish.

Kingsley sighed and turned back to the bound man, “What have you done with Alastor Moody?”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The five people landed gently on their feet as the memory began to play out.

Amelia gasped, as her eyes landed on the short balding man levitating a struggling Harry Potter to the tombstone.

“Is that…?”

“Peter Pettigrew,” Harry answered, nodding. Harry looked at the Minister who was watching with wide eyes as Pettigrew began the ritual, putting Babymort in to the bubbling cauldron, and then moving to summon the ingredient needed, dropping it in to the cauldron. Harry’s eyes glanced at Cedric, wanting to make sure the boy wouldn’t have another panic attack, but he seemed to be holding up well, if not slightly pale.

They watched in horrified silence as Pettigrew chopped off his own arm, dropping it in to the cauldron, and then watched as he approached the struggling and bound Potter.

_“Blood of the enemy, forcibly ta-”_

_“I WILLINGLY GIVE MY BLOOD!” Harry shouted._

_Wormtail stopped, but then continued, “t-taken. The Dark Lord shall rise again!”_

_Wormtail let the blood drop from the blade and in to the cauldron. The cauldron shook as it started to bubble and suddenly, flames erupted from the cauldron, leaving nothing but a snake like creature._

Horrified gasps were heard from the four people observing the memory, Harry looked at the others’ ashen faces, the Minister was whimpering, his eyes unable to look away from the terrifying creature and Cedric had clenched his hands in to fists.

“Merlin,” Amelia Bones breathed out as she took in the sight of the demon in front of her, for it could not have ever been human.

_Voldemort grinned, showing white teeth, he held his hands out, “My wand, Wormtail,” he commanded._

_The rat inched forward, and placed the bone white wand in to his master’s hand. Voldemort waved the wand and black robes appeared on his thin body._

_“Ah, much better,” his gaze turned to Harry and a cruel smile appeared on his lips, “‘I willingly give my blood’? Silly, silly boy, there’s no ‘willing’ when you are trapped,” Voldemort hissed as he laughed. He turned away, “Wormtail! Your arm.”_

_Sniveling, Wormtail held out his right hand, “Th-thank you master!”_

_“Not that one, you fool! Your other arm!” Voldemort sneered._

_“Not so fast!” Harry shouted._

_“Harry, Harry, wait your turn,” Voldemort crooned, as he grabbed Wormtail’s left arm._

_Voldemort moved his wand to press against the dark mark adorning Wormtail’s arm, Wormtail screamed._

_Black smoke swirled in a circle around Voldemort. One by one, Death Eaters appeared, Voldemort waited as they all gathered around him._

Amelia Bones narrowed her eyes as she recognized many of the Death Eaters appearing before their master. She conjured a piece of parchment and noted down names, she would investigate them later.

_“I-I returned, M-master,” Wormtail said, not moving from his spot._

_“Out of fear! Not loyalty,” Voldemort said, “However, even in your fear, you did me a great service, and so you shall be rewarded.”_

_Voldemort swished his wand and created a silver hand out of thin air for Wormtail._

_“Thank you, master, oh, thank you!” Wormtail sniveled._

_Voldemort’s attention turned to Cedric._

_“DON’T TOUCH HIM!” Harry screamed._

The scream brought the attention of the five viewers to memory Harry, who was struggling to get out of his bonds.

_“Ah, Harry,” Voldemort said, pulling his foot back before it could touch Cedric’s still warm face._

_“Shall I tell you what really happened that night?” Voldemort asked, “How I was supposedly defeated by a mere child? You see, when sweet Lily Potter, sacrificed herself, she invoked an ancient magic._ _She died in the attempt to save her beloved son — and unwittingly provided him with a protection, I admit I had not foreseen... I could not touch the boy. This is old magic, I should have remembered it, and I was foolish to overlook it... but no matter,_ _” Voldemort’s lips bulled back in a cruel grin, “Now! I can touch him!” and he pressed a bony finger to Harry’s scar._

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The five viewers were ejected out of the memory. Silence reigned around the now empty office.

“I cannot show you further because after that, it’s simply a haze of pain and adrenaline, I hope this is enough proof,” Harry finally spoke, breaking the silence, “Cedric was mostly unconscious but when he came to, he’s the one that got the portkey and made our escape possible.”

Cedric blinked and nodded when Madam Bones looked at him for confirmation, “Pettigrew threw the Killing Curse at me, but Harry’s _Stupefy_ reached me first and I dropped to the ground just in time to avoid the curse.”

Harry nodded, “Voldemort and I dueled, somewhere in the middle of it, I must’ve sent an _Enervate_ at Cedric. He reached me just in time with the portkey. I don’t know how he got passed all the Death Eaters, though.”

“Everyone was focused on your duel, no one paid me any attention, I silenced my shoes and put a notice-me-not charm on myself. I made my way over to the portkey, and then grabbed Harry just as the portkey started to glow,” Cedric shrugged.

Harry gave a snort, “Grabbed? More like tackled.”

Cedric rolled his eyes, “I got us out of there, isn’t that enough?”

“All I’m saying is that you could’ve been more gentle. I think the cup’s handle bruised my ribs,” Harry grimaced, rubbing a spot on his left side for show.

“Oh, I’m sorry, next time I’ll transfigure the portkey into a pillow before saving your life,” Cedric said, sarcasm dripping from his every word.

Harry opened his mouth-

“Enough,” Madam Bones interrupted before the argument could progress any further, “Thank you Mr. Potter for sharing this with us, and Mr. Diggory for giving us your account. Not that I had any doubt after that memory.”

“I- He could’ve been faking the memory!” Minister Fudge said, rather desperately.

Harry shook his head, but was surprised when Snape stepped forward, “I am a Master Occlumens and I can say with complete confidence that there was no sign of memory tampering, and the Headmaster can also confirm this.”

Dumbledore nodded, “Indeed.”

Harry didn’t know whether Dumbledore was agreeing that he was also an Occlumens and so knew that the memory had not been tampered with, or that he knew Snape was an Occlumens and thus, trusted his judgment.

Minister Fudge swayed and finally sat down on the chair beside the pensieve. His face completely drained of color.

“Also,” Harry spoke, drawing the room’s attention to him once again, “I have further proof that the Dark Lord has returned. While he was giving his speech, I had just enough time to make a trap using a Notice-me-not charm. Thankfully, my reflexes were fast enough that it allowed me to grab this just as Cedric tackled me.”

Cedric rolled his eyes at the jab.

Harry reached in to his pocket and brought out a fiery runic cage, holding a small rat inside. With a tap of his wand, the cage enlarged. Harry turned to Snape, “Professor, the animagus reversal spell, please. On three.”

Snape nodded and Harry counted down, as he reached three, a blue light shot out of their wands, surrounding the rat inside the cage. Six pairs of eyes watched as the rat was slowly forced from animal to human, eyes wide in terror.

“I present to you Peter Pettigrew,” Harry announced, “The Death Eater responsible for bringing back Voldemort, the secret keeper that betrayed my parents’ location to said Dark Lord, and the one who framed Sirius Black for the murder of 13 muggles.” 

Pettigrew opened his mouth, frantically shaking his head, but nothing came out.

“Silenced, of course,” Harry finished.

Amelia was at a loss for words, her thoughts turned to how the Ministry would be punished dearly for the Minister’s mistakes, just thinking about the field day the papers would have when all of this came out, and she couldn’t even start to think about the amount of paperwork that would come of this.

“Merlin’s saggy balls,” Amelia cursed, barely managing to keep the whimper out of her voice. The same could not be said of Fudge, who was thinking about how this would end his political career and let out a moan of despair.

Amelia looked up from the trapped animagus just in time to see Harry’s sympathetic smile. The smile did nothing to reassure Amelia at the slightest, in fact, she could distinctly see the glint of mischief in his emerald eyes, but his next words almost made Amelia moan in despair.

“Did you know, Madam Bones, that Sirius Black, my godfather, never got a trial?” Harry asked innocently.

Just then, the door was opened and voices came floating in, “I told ya! I want ta talk to Dumbledore!”

“I’m taking you to him!” Kingsley growled, stumbling in with a man heavily weighing on his shoulders, the man with a missing eye and leg, could only be Alastor Moody.

Kingsley stopped as he surveyed the people in the office and then his gaze landed on the caged Pettigrew.

“Shit!”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sirius mentally prepared himself as he stood on the doorstep of 12 Grimmauld Place. He knew he shouldn’t have put it off for too long, but the thought of going back to his childhood home made him cringe. It dragged up too many bad memories. However, today was the day of the third task and Sirius needed something to keep his mind off of the danger his godson was facing. He didn’t need to take away Harry’s concentration by making Harry worry about him, so Sirius had decided that he’d get the locket today.

The door opened with an eerie whine, Sirius shuddered as the sound went through him.

“Well, here goes nothing,” he muttered and took the first step inside; another shudder ran through his form, this time bringing with it the feel of dark magic. He took a slow deep breath as he felt his own magic reach out to the magic in the house.

No matter how much he pretended to be light, he knew, that dark magic would always draw him in. He grew up here, the magic in this house was a part of him, from the very first breath he took until the very last one, more than 20 years ago, when he ran away from home.

No matter the memories, the magic was always comforting to him. He mentally shook his head; taking a deep breath, he stepped inside the house, finally taking in the interior. It hadn’t changed much, except perhaps it had gotten dirtier. He moved from the entrance hall to go to the kitchen, but his eyes caught on to something hanging further down the hall. He walked over to it and realized that the moth-eaten curtains hid something behind them. As his hands reached out to pull the curtains aside, the curtains flew open, and immediately, Sirius stepped back as he was confronted with a life size image of his mother.

“Mother,” Sirius said, even in his surprise, he couldn’t hide the resentment he felt for her.

“Finally back, are we?” Walburga sneered at her wayward heir.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, “No. I’m not. I’m only here to retrieve something.”

“Must you be a disgrace to the House of Black? Why can’t you walk the path that is right? The Dark Lord will be victorious and he will make you rue the day that you turned your back on our honor, our family, and our proud traditions. My Lord will make you regret running off to fight with those filthy muggle-lovers!”

Sirius growled and made to retort, when he paused. He was about to get into an argument with the portrait of his dead mother. Perhaps if he hadn’t spent the last few months at Potter Manor, having the elves take care of him and stuffing various healing potions down his throat, he would’ve been screaming abuse at her right now.

He pursed his lips, he wanted to turn away, he should turn away, but he couldn’t help but say this, “Did you know mother, that I am the only Black in name left alive currently? The Dark Lord has been vanquished, most of the Death Eaters have been sent to prison or been kissed, and all of your numbers have been dwindled down to one. The only other Blacks by birth that are still alive are Andromeda, Narcissa, and Bellatrix. Andromeda was disowned, Narcissa’s a stuck up Malfoy, and the last one is rotting in a cell in Azkaban. So tell me, what family are you talking about? While the Black name does carry weight in our society, the only thing it is good for is scorn and known as the family of Death Eaters. What honor do you speak of, mother? Look around you, at our once prestigious home, now reduced to this dirty and unkempt state. Is this the legacy that you speak so highly of?” Sirius questioned, not once raising his voice.                                                                                                          

Turning his back on his speechless mother, he flicked his wand and sealed the curtains shut, then made his way to the drawing room.

“Accio Slytherin’s locket!” Sirius intoned once he was inside. When nothing happened, he frowned. Perhaps he’d have to search the house manually after all. Or… He wondered if the old house elf that had been bonded to his mother was still alive.

“Kreacher!” Sirius shouted.

A pop sounded in front of him and Sirius nearly gasped as he laid eyes on the dirty and insane looking elf before him.

“Has no good, muggle-lover Master Sirius returned?” Kreacher asked.

Sirius scowled, “No, Kreacher. I’m here to find something.”

Kreacher scowled back, “What does blood-traitor Master hope to find here?”

Sirius contained a growl and continued as if he hadn’t heard the elf, “Kreacher, I order you to bring me all the necklaces and lockets in the house and lay them out in rows before me.”

Kreacher struggled, but he could not disobey a direct order from the Master of the House. With a pop he disappeared, a moment later he reappeared, bringing with him heaps of jewelry. With a snap of his fingers, each necklace was laid out in rows in front of Sirius, followed by some lockets that were not attached to any chains.

Sirius’s eyes roved the jewelry, before he finally found the one he was looking for. It was rather hard to miss with the big emerald ‘S’ on the front. He quickly levitated the necklace, but was surprised as Kreacher grabbed on to it.

“NO! BAD MASTER WILL NOT TAKE MASTER REGULUS’S LOCKET!” Kreacher screeched, tugging on the locket hanging in the air, “KREACHER MUST CARRY OUT HIS ORDERS! KREACHER MU-”

“QUIET!” Sirius roared, surprised at the reaction, “Kreacher, I order you to stand still in front of me and tell me what Regulus had to do with this locket.”

Kreacher silently sobbed, “No, Kreacher mustn’t! K-Kreacher promised M-master R-Regulus to never t-tell,” he wailed.

Sirius rubbed his temple; he wondered what Regulus had gotten into. Keeping Harry’s warning in mind, Sirius brought out the warded black jewelry box he had brought from Potter Manor and opened the lid, gently levitating the necklace in fully, before closing the box and casting the finishing ward on it to seal the box shut.

Sirius was surprised as he felt the magic immediately lighten around him. He looked back to the warded box, that necklace was not something to be played with if it affected the ambient magic of the house that much. He wondered what Harry, and now Regulus, wanted with the locket.

After he’d put the box in an inner robe pocket, he turned back to the still sobbing elf. He pushed down his first response of hate and disgust, and rearranged his features into something neutral.

“Kreacher,” Sirius waited for the elf to look up, “Tell me what Regulus wanted to do with the locket and I promise to try and carry out his wishes.”

Kreacher looked at him with wide eyes.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Very nicely done in there,” Harry said once the pair had gained some distance between them and the Headmaster’s Office, “I never would’ve guessed you had it in you.”

Cedric chuckled, “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Harry. Although, I’m beginning to realize that I don’t know all that much about you, either, except that chaos follows in your footsteps, because I’ve never seen the Minister and Madam Bones just about ready to cry.”

Harry huffed, “Ok, _that_ is not my fault. If the Ministry just did their job correctly, they wouldn’t be crying now! And chaos does not follow me!”

“Oh please, we’ve all heard rumors about your first year,” Cedric said, “Not to mention second year, and from what I heard in there about your third year? If not chaos, then adventure definitely follows in your footsteps.”

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it and shook his head, “Alright, alright, no need to rub it in,” he was not pouting.

Cedric’s lips quirked at Harry’s expression, but he frowned as he realized that they were going in the direction of the Hospital Wing, “Wait, why are we going to the Hospital Wing?”

Harry stopped and turned to face Cedric, “Cedric, this… discussion is going to take a long time. It’s been a long day and I’m exhausted.”

“Are you telling me what I think you’re telling me?” asked Cedric, his eyes narrowed.

Harry ran a hand through his hair, “Look, Cedric, I,” he hesitated, but then decided to go on, after all, he had to tell Cedric something, “I’m using all of my skills in Occlumency to keep from thinking about what happened at the graveyard, and I need to work through everything I’ve found out alone,” Harry said, the strain showing on his face, “I-”

Harry was cut off as Cedric grabbed his hand and led him through the school.

“Where are we going?” Harry asked as he jogged to keep up with the taller boy’s longer strides.

“I can’t understand what you’re going through,” Cedric began, not answering the question, “I know you’re very angry right now,” Cedric glanced at Harry’s surprised face and continued, “I saw your expression after You-Know-Who mentioned a prophecy. I may have been freaked out, but I wasn’t completely out of it. But, I saw you _blackmail_ the Dark Lord and capture one of his Death Eaters and now I need some answers,” Cedric saw that Harry was opening his mouth to argue, but he continued, not letting him get a word in, “I know you need to work out your frustrations and I’m going to let you do that, but after that, we are going to talk.”

Harry sighed.

“Are you sure we can’t talk about this in the morning?” Harry tried one last time to convince the older boy.

“As sure as I am of the fact that you’ll never have a normal school year.”

Harry gaped, “It could happen!”

Cedric’s smirk said it all.

Harry scowled all the way up to the seventh floor. Harry paused as he realized they were outside one of the exits to the Chamber of Secrets. Uneasy, Harry looked around and realized Cedric was standing in front of the blank stretch of the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Harry was at a loss as Cedric started to pace back and forth in front of the blank space, “Er, what are you doing?” Harry asked after the third time he turned, but his eyes widened as he saw a door appear out of nowhere on the wall.

Cedric pulled the door open and waved the younger boy inside, “After you.”

Harry hesitantly entered the room, his eyes widened at what lay before him. The room was as big as the Defense classroom with training dummies situated in a half circle with one-foot gaps between each dummy. Around and in between each dummy, Harry could see vases, statues, and even crystal balls suspended in mid air or standing on pillars. Black and gold cushions were put in opposite the dummies, making a barrier that divided the room in half. On the other side of the room were two comfortable-looking black armchairs facing each other with a small glass coffee table in the middle.

“I’ve never seen this room,” Harry commented looking back at Cedric as he was closing the door.

“It’s called the Room of Requirement, it turns in to whatever you need it to be,” Cedric replied, “Say you’re looking for a place to hide, it might become an empty classroom, or if you need a bathroom, it becomes one. If you want something special, you do have to be very specific; otherwise, it’ll turn in to something generic, sort of like this. I asked for a place to talk,” Cedric said, gesturing to the armchairs, “And a place for you to vent,” Cedric finished.

Harry looked around the room with new eyes as all the new possibilities came to mind, “Wicked.”

Harry and Cedric stood in front of the door, not speaking, letting an awkward silence fill the room.

“Well, get to venting and stuff,” Cedric said, breaking the awkward silence.

“Er… Nothing personal, Cedric, but when I vent, I like to be alone,” Harry hinted.

Cedric rolled his eyes and pushed the younger boy towards the “venting area”, once Harry was past the cushions, a rumble swept through the room and a stone wall rose up to the ceiling, blocking off Cedric and the other half of the room. Harry’s eyebrows rose as a door appeared in the wall. Cedric poked his head in through the door, “I’ll be in here whenever you’re ready.”

Harry shook his head as Cedric disappeared just as quickly as he’d appeared. He turned from the now closed door and looked around the room. He sighed and walked towards the side of the room adjacent to the dummies and slid down the wall to the floor. Closing his eyes, he let his head fall back with a thump against the hard wall behind him. He felt his mind clearing from the pain in his skull; unfortunately, his stress only rose.

What was he going to do? He couldn’t tell Cedric. What would Cedric think? Harry knew that what he was doing wasn’t strictly light. Merlin, he doubted it was even grey at this point! How was he going to tell the heir of a light magic family about soul magic, about the Chamber of Secrets, about _Salazar_? His head dropped in to his arms, why hadn’t he just left Cedric? He would’ve been far safer in the maze! He knew the answer to that, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. He didn’t want to be that person that put his friends in danger because it was beneficial. Beneficial to him, to have a witness, lending credibility to his statements, no matter the danger.

What had he been thinking!? Harry felt guilt well up inside him, Cedric had nearly died, and for what? So that Harry could have a witness to confirm that he was telling the truth? In the end, he hadn’t really even needed Cedric to confirm his story. Sure, Harry had kept Cedric from dying, but what about the next time?

If Cedric got involved, he would be in a lot more danger than just dodging one Avada; the Death Eaters would do something much worse to him next time. Next time, Cedric may not make it out alive. And it would be Harry’s fault. Cedric had more to lose than Harry did. Cedric had a family, friends, people who cared about him, people who relied on him. Harry couldn’t do that to Cedric, to anyone. Harry had the means to destroy Voldemort, and he had help from a founder, a potions genius, and his godfather. Harry would get by. 

A plan started forming in his head. He would not involve Cedric any further, and to protect him, he needed Cedric to do one last thing.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cedric paced on his side of the wall as he waited for Harry.

He sort of regretted not holding off on this discussion until the morning now, but he just knew that if they had waited until morning, then Harry would change his mind and find some way to back out of it, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Cedric sighed as he flopped down on the armchair facing the door to Harry’s side of the room. He needed something to occupy his mind to keep from thinking about all that he had learned. His body had already been pumped full of adrenaline, then he’d gone into shock, he’d had his panic attack in the Great Hall, and now he was on his way to accepting what had happened. As unbelievable as it sounded, he’d actually survived meeting Voldemort, not that it was of his own volition. He was alive because of Harry.

He knew that Harry didn’t want to admit it, but he saw the loneliness in those emerald eyes. He’d noticed for months now, that Harry had locked himself away. Sure, on the outside, there was nothing wrong, Harry laughed and hung out with his friends, but Cedric was no stranger to keeping secrets, and Harry had a lot of them. Cedric saw what those secrets were doing to him, their burden was slowly pulling Harry down and Cedric was afraid that if he didn’t help Harry, the boy was going to drown.

He was sure that Granger had noticed how much Harry had withdrawn from everyone besides her and Lovegood, but their relationship had yet to change in any way. Harry and Granger weren’t any closer or further apart than they were before, so he knew that Harry hadn’t told his friends what he was doing. Perhaps Granger had decided to wait for Harry to come to her. Cedric might have done the same, however, he didn’t have the advantage of knowing and having Harry’s trust since first year.

Harry was stubborn; Cedric knew that if he didn’t force the boy into letting him help, then Harry would never ask, and Cedric would probably fade away from Harry’s life. His lips quirked as he ran a hand through his hair, he didn’t know when he’d started paying so much attention to the younger boy.

Cedric’s lips twisted in to a full smile, he had to admit to one thing, though: Harry had played the Minister beautifully. It was surprisingly thrilling seeing those emerald eyes darken in fury as he knocked down the Minister of Magic a peg or two. Even Amelia Bones had gone deathly pale after hearing Harry’s “innocent” comment about Black not receiving a trial, and, unlike the Minister, she had kept herself fairly under control while watching the memory of Voldemort’s return.

By the time they had left the Headmaster’s Office to return to the Hospital Wing, Harry had successfully convinced the stubborn Minister that Voldemort was back, arranged a trial for Sirius Black and Pettigrew, and made sure that the Ministry would be in complete chaos for the next couple of weeks all in less than an hour.

Cedric looked up as he heard a door opening and saw Harry coming out of the venting area. He couldn’t see in to the room, as Harry was blocking his sight. Cedric noted that Harry’s clothes were rumpled, more than before, and his hair was even messier than when he went in to the room.

Cedric didn’t say anything as Harry closed the door and walked over to him and sat down on the armchair facing him.

“I know you want to know what’s going on, and I will tell you,” Harry added as Cedric opened his mouth, “but first I need you to do something for me.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emerald: AND done! Wow, this chapter was hard to write. I’m so sorry guys, this was supposed to be out during Christmas, but my holidays were even more hectic than during the semester, and I’m only now getting around to completing this. I know it’s slightly shorter than my other chapters, but this was the best place to stop without going on for 10 more pages. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you everyone for your comments, kudos, and alerts. It makes me so happy to see that you guys like it! 
> 
> Also, let me know if you guys can see the line breaks now, I went back and edited the other line breaks in the previous chapters as well.
> 
> Review!!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: The saying “the path to hell is paved with good intentions,” will apply to Dumbles in every possible way.
> 
> Special Chapter Warning: Butchering of the Old English language in order to make ancient spells seem more dramatic and over the top.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; do not sue me.
> 
> Pairings: Still haven’t decided.

“Talking” 

_‘Thinking’_

**“Parseltongue”**

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry got up from his place on the floor. He knew what he had to do, but first, in order to not make Cedric suspicious, Harry had to make Cedric believe that he’d vented his frustrations and was ready to talk. 

He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up even more. He ran a hand over his clothes, trying to wrinkle them, making it look like he’d gone a few rounds with the dummies. Not that he needed to, considering how he must look after going through the maze and then confronting Voldemort. He pulled out his wand and cast a wide range _bombarda_ in the direction of the dummies. He covered his face, as the blast also hit the vases and crystal balls, sending fragments flying everywhere.

He lowered his arm once he felt safe enough, but quickly stepped to the side, just in time to avoid a dummy’s arm from smacking him in the head. He looked up at the ceiling where the arm had struck, his eyes widening as he saw the dent, it seemed the arm had hit the ceiling hard enough that it had become stuck in the ceiling for a few seconds before coming loose. He grimaced; he’d overpowered the spell. He must be more tired than he’d thought.

Harry blew out a breath, taking a final look around; the mess seemed believable. He pushed open the door to the other room, wide enough to slip through and give a small glimpse of the mess. He wanted Cedric to see just enough to not expect foul play.

Harry knew he was getting paranoid, but he couldn’t help it, the thought of letting all of his secrets out didn’t make him feel relief, rather it left him feeling vulnerable. He didn’t meet Cedric’s eyes as he made his way over to the armchair facing the older boy.

Harry looked at Cedric through his bangs, but didn’t speak. He let the silence engulf him, steadying himself for what he was about to do. He looked down at his hands as they twisted in his lap, so that Cedric couldn’t make out the guilt in his eyes. With another deep breath, he began, “I know you want to know what’s going on,” Harry began. Looking up, he saw the expression on Cedric’s face and he quickly added, “and I will tell you, but first I need you to do something for me.”

Harry waited for Cedric to nod before he continued, “I need you to swear an oath on your magic.”

Harry absently noted Cedric’s startled expression as the older boy was caught off guard. Harry didn’t know why the boy was so surprised; Cedric didn’t think that he would just reveal his secrets like that, did he?

“Why?” Cedric asked, his face neutral. Harry mentally frowned; he couldn’t see anything but simple curiosity from Cedric.

“Like I said before, this information is dangerous, especially in the wrong hands. With the oath you won’t be able to let anything important slip by accident and your mind will also be protected.”

Cedric pursed his lips and then nodded. Harry was surprised at how quickly the older boy had agreed, he’d thought that he would have to convince him to go through with it. A piece of parchment and a quill appeared in front of Harry.

“What do you want me to say?” Cedric asked, gesturing to the parchment.

Harry bit his lip, he couldn’t look too eager. Slowly, putting quill to parchment, he pretended to think about what he wanted the oath to say. Cedric couldn’t know that Harry knew exactly what the oath should contain. A few more seconds pause and Harry began writing, pausing occasionally to keep up the act. Finally, he was finished and handed the piece of parchment over to Cedric, who took out his wand.

Cedric glanced over the words he was to say, and was surprised to find that there weren’t any glaring loopholes. He steadied himself, if he wanted to have Harry’s trust, he couldn’t show any hesitation.

He took a deep breath and locked eyes with Harry, “I, Cedric Amos Diggory, do so swear on my magic that I will not reveal to anyone of what truly happened in the graveyard at Voldemort’s rebirth and/or divulge in any way, any of Hadrian “Harry” James Potter’s secrets that he has entrusted me with to anyone that does not know of them. I also swear to tell no one, human or other beings about the details of this oath unless given explicit permission to do so. So mote it be.”

“So mote it be,” Harry said as the magic reached out to him, asking if he accepted the oath.

Harry forced himself not to tense as Cedric leaned forward to drop the parchment on to the table between them, he held up his right hand just as Cedric was straightening up, “ _Stupefy,_ ” Harry murmured and winced as a jet of red light hit Cedric square in the face. Cedric slumped forward on to the table, his surprised expression quickly slipping away to one of sleep.

Harry sighed as he slumped back in his chair, exhausted. He sat still for a few moments, simply watching the unconscious boy. His plan had worked. Now, all he had to do was avoid Cedric until summer, and he’d be in the clear. His eyes drooped as all the events of the day caught up to him. All he wanted to do now was go to sleep in his own bed, but he had to do one last thing before he could go to the land of dreams.

Harry levitated Cedric from his place; with his right hand he took out his wand and set the piece of parchment on fire. His wandless abilities had come far from when he had first started practicing, however his control hadn’t been the best since his magic had been fully released, and he feared that he would overload the destructive spell in his tired state if he didn’t use his wand (not that that had helped him earlier).

Making sure the parchment had disintegrated completely and then scattering the ashes; Harry made his way out of the room with Cedric floating in front of him, the spell now transferred to his wand.

Harry absently listened to his footsteps echoing in the empty halls, his tired eyes not moving from the path in front of him. How long had they been gone since they left the Headmaster’s office? He hoped they weren’t missed. His eyes slowly looked down to Cedric’s unconscious form.

He felt guilty about deceiving Cedric, but Cedric would get over it. He would see that it was for his own good. He frowned, wondering if he should stay in the Hospital Wing with Cedric, but shook his head, figuring it was safer to go back to his own bed in case Cedric woke up before him. He hoped most of the Gryffindors were asleep, but knowing them, they were all awake, too jittery to even get a wink. Hopefully, McGonagall had come by and forced them to bed by now.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Harry slowed his pace as the Hospital Wing came in to view, not that he was going very fast, tired as he was. He hoped Madam Pomfrey had already gone to bed, but he doubted it, not with two of her patients missing. He moved, so that Cedric was now floating behind him and with a careful hand, he eased open the door, cringing at the eerie whine the door gave off.

 “There you are!”

 Harry jumped as Madam Pomfrey suddenly appeared, nearly dropping Cedric in his surprise.

 “Don’t do that!” Harry hissed, “I almost dropped him!”

 Madam Pomfrey glanced behind him to see Cedric; she gasped and hurriedly took over the spell, levitating Cedric to a nearby bed. Harry, seeing that she was busy, was about to make his escape, when a hand gripped his shoulder and dragged him to another bed beside Cedric.

“Don’t you dare,” Madam Pomfrey said, her tone making it clear she wasn’t in the mood to humor him today.

Harry sighed and sat down on the bed, suddenly feeling ten times drowsier than he had before. It had been a long day and Harry just wanted to sleep, but now was not the time. Harry fought to stay awake as his eyes drooped. He had to get back to Gryffindor Tower. A warm hand landed on his forehead, pushing his hair back, he couldn’t make out the words being said, but his eyes closed and he fell sideways on to the bed.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head in exasperation as Harry collapsed on his side in exhaustion. He was asleep before he even hit the pillow. She quickly moved her hand away from his head and rolled him over to a more comfortable position. She waved her wand in an intricate pattern and frowned as she studied the piece of parchment that appeared in front of her. There were signs of physical exhaustion, a few cuts that hadn’t completely healed, and some bruises on his arms and stomach that were just now showing. She waved her wand and summoned a couple of potions and a salve to give to Harry when he awoke.

She turned to her other patient and noted that he was sleeping soundly. She waved her wand in the same pattern again and another piece of parchment appeared in front of her. She noted some bruises, mainly on his back and arms, then there were a couple of cuts all over his legs, which she had already healed, and lastly, there were remnants of a strong spell on him… Her eyes widened as she realized he’d been stunned…by Harry. 

She looked to the bed Harry was sleeping in. She could tell it was Harry who had cast the spell because traces of his magic remained on Cedric’s form, traces that would have faded by now if the levitation spell were the only spell cast. She sighed, wondering what had happened, but decided to simply let him sleep it off. The boy needed his sleep, and whatever had happened between Harry and Cedric to cause Harry to stun him; the two could deal with it in the morning.

She pursed her lips, perhaps it would be better if she separated the boys now so that they wouldn’t disturb her other patients come morning. She waved her wand and moved Harry’s bed to the other end of the Hospital Wing and setup partitions around his bed.

Finished, she returned to her chambers, but not before casting perimeter wards to alert her if any of her patients woke up or tried to sneak out. Safe to say, the wards were mostly around Harry’s bed.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“ **Reveal the secret: Soul Mend** ,” Salazar hissed. The instructions for the horcrux potion disappeared from the scroll in his hands and, instead, new writing appeared, listing a different potion. He had especially enchanted this parchment to hold everything about horcruxes; all you needed were the right words. 

Salazar frowned as he finished his search for the ingredients. He glanced again at the list in his hands and then inside the ingredients cupboard again; he couldn’t find seven things on the list. He sighed, frustrated. He would have to wait, considering his current form there was no way he could get the rest of the ingredients without the help of some of the other Founders or the little Gryffindor.

He couldn’t use Hadrian considering the nature of the potion, and the boy hadn’t told Snape about him yet, so that was also out, plus he knew the potions master’s loyalty lay with Hadrian and not the dark. No matter how much the man’s magic rebelled against the light. Although, he hadn’t managed to figure out why _exactly_ the man had switched sides.

From the information he had gathered from the boy’s years at Hogwarts, the man turned spy for the light, but the reason why never really came up, although he knew it had something to do with Hadrian, but it was something more than the life debt Snape owed to Hadrian’s father. It was more likely something to do with the boy’s mother. Dumbledore and Snape never mentioned Hadrian’s mother, she was oddly absent from most conversations, compared to Hadrian’s father, who was brought up fairly regularly by Snape, who despised him.

Dumbledore and Snape were the only two who knew why Snape had switched loyalties, but whenever conversation seemed to be going near the topic of Snape’s change in heart, the conversation would head in another direction or Dumbledore would simply allude to it in a vague way that only those in-the-know would know what he was talking about.

It didn’t help that there were a total of three conversations that the topic even came up in. It frustrated Salazar to no end.

He shook his head, bringing his thoughts back on track. The soul-mending potion had to have the exact ingredients listed; he couldn’t use substitutes to get the same effect. His stupid heir had messed with soul magic trying to achieve immortality, and soul magic, even with the proper preparation, was tricky and unstable. Using substitutes was just inviting trouble.

He had to start leaving clues for the little Gryffindor so that he could find another Founder. He couldn’t tell the boy outright, but he could start by pointing him in the right direction. Although, he had to make sure that the next Founder freed from their chamber would be either Helga or Rowena, Godric would mess up his plans. Good thing he had located Rowena’s diadem first and relocated it, or Hadrian would have found the Room of Requirement. That room could not be found, not yet.

Thank Mother Magic the boy was one of Godric’s! While he was by no means stupid, he was oblivious to the more subtle manipulations going on around him. While that little stunt with involving Snape would build up a trust between the potions master and the little Gryffindor, it would leave him free to work on his owns plans; and, while he may not like the idea of Godric not being free, he had to make sure his own heir was on the path to recovery before giving the young Gryffindor a confirmed ally.

Godric was sure to unravel all of Salazar’s plans. Salazar didn’t want his last descendant killed, no matter what he had done. The Slytherin line would not die out! Thankfully, the first part of his plan was already in motion, given that Hadrian had returned the first horcrux to Voldemort. In a few moments, the potion he had applied to the pages would take effect, and in a few weeks, the first part of his plan would be complete.

Salazar paused as he was about to leave his lab, speaking of the little Gryffindor, where was he? He knew the tournament was long over; the boy should have sought him out by now. He’d felt the portkey re-enter the wards, so he knew Hadrian was back on school grounds. Perhaps he was waiting in the Chamber? No, no, Gryffindor would want to celebrate their win, so perhaps he’d see the boy tomorrow.

“ **Reveal the secret: Soul Find** ,” Salazar hissed, looking at the parchment. He watched the words twist and rearrange themselves back in to the instructions for the horcrux locating potion. He slipped the parchment behind some ingredients on the highest shelf, making sure that Hadrian would not come across it by accident, and then disappeared through the ceiling.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cedric groaned as his sluggish mind made its way to the waking world. He slowly became aware of something bright and warm on his face. As his mind registered the familiar warmth as that of the sun, he became aware of another sensation, this time of pain. He raised his hand to his face, but he couldn’t feel anything other than the skin on his face. No bandages, no blood, but as his hand passed over his nose, the stinging sensation buzzed under his skin. He pressed down and held in a wince as the pinpricks of pain resurfaced. Was he hit by a stinging hex? It sure felt like it, a strong one at that. He tried to recall what had happened previously. The third task, no, he’d won that… with Harry…

Harry… what about Harry?

Harry! 

Cedric sat up suddenly. His eyes flying open as he recalled his last memory of Harry saying the stunning spell. Cedric clutched his head and groaned as his vision spun before his eyes; he slowly fell back on to the bed.

“Bloody hell!” Cedric cursed, Harry had tricked him.

“There’s no need for that kind of language.”

Cedric opened his eyes and turned towards the voice of Madam Pomfrey, who was coming to stand beside him.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, as she placed a hand on his chest to keep him flat, but Cedric ignored her and sat up again, slower this time, “I’m fine. Where’s Harry?”

Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow and her eyes narrowed, “He is still sleeping and you will _not_ wake him up. Am I understood?”

Cedric’s eyes widened as the temperature around the matron dropped and he quickly nodded. Madam Pomfrey may not be the most powerful or the most intimidating faculty member most of the time, but when it came to looking after her patients, the woman was like the Cerberus guarding the gates of the Underworld.

Madam Pomfrey, seeing his compliance, started waving her wand around him, he watched as a piece of parchment appeared in front of her. She looked up after scanning it, “Your wounds seemed to have healed nicely, and there’s no permanent damage. You’ll be sore for a couple of days, there seems to be some lingering pain from the stunner you took, but that will clear up on its own. You should still rest for a bit, but other than that, you are free to go,” Madam Pomfrey concluded as she banished the parchment to her office.

Cedric grimaced, barely stopping himself from rubbing his nose, “I didn’t know stunners could hurt so much.”

“Usually, they wouldn’t, but you and Mister Potter both came in very late, and with the condition you two were in, what with having to compete in the third task yesterday, neither of you should have even been doing magic in your exhausted state. It seems that Mister Potter overloaded the spell in his exhaustion, and that is why you are still feeling pain,” Madam Pomfrey explained.

Her gaze turned to a bed further down that was blocked of from the rest of the room, “He didn’t even put up a fight when it came to staying overnight yesterday, he fell asleep almost as soon as he sat on the bed,” Madam Pomfrey then turned back to him, “Actually, I’m rather surprised you’re up so early, all things considered.”

Cedric blinked, finally deigning to look out the window. He was surprised to see how early it still was, he looked back at Madam Pomfrey, “Can I stay here for a bit? I want to talk to Harry when he wakes up.”

Madam Pomfrey shook her head in exasperation but said, “Fine, but do _not_ wake him up. His body is exhausted. Let him come to on his own.”

Cedric nodded, “I’ll just stay here,” inwardly he added, _‘Closer to the only exit.’_

Madam Pomfrey nodded and moved to Fleur, who had just woken up.

Cedric lay back down on the bed to wait until Harry awoke. There was no way he was going to let Harry slip away. This time, he would be ready.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry’s nose caught the familiar smell of the Hospital Wing even before he was fully conscious. As the smell registered in his brain, he held in a groan, as he had no doubt as to where he currently was. A few seconds more of becoming fully conscious and he remembered falling asleep just as Madam Pomfrey was checking him over on one of the hospital beds. Shit. He was sure Cedric was out there. Waiting for him. 

Maybe he wouldn’t be awake? Harry inwardly snorted, yeah right. Not if his luck had anything to say about it.

He opened his eyes just enough to look through his lashes. He blinked as he was faced with a wall of pale blue and realized he was blocked off from the rest of the room by the three-fold partition that Madam Pomfrey must’ve put up. Harry relaxed, his eyes opening up all the way, _‘Thank you Madam Pomfrey!’_

Harry sat up, wincing at the creaking noise the bed made as he moved. He looked down and realized he had been changed in to the hospital pajamas that Madam Pomfrey kept on hand. He looked around and noticed his wand and holster were relocated to the small table beside the bed along with his clothes from the night before. He leaned over and grabbed his holster; reattaching the holster to his arm, he slipped off the bed and in to his boots that were placed to the side on the floor.

“Harry?”

Harry whirled around; he could see a tall shadow on the other side of the bed from where he was standing. That was definitely Cedric’s voice.

“Harry, you awake?”

Harry quickly grabbed his clothes and ducked under the bed, pulling the blanket down to make a shadow under the bed. Just before he pulled the blanket to the ground, half still on the bed, he saw the partition move. He quickly ducked under the bed, concentrating to pull up his magic. He wrapped the shadows around himself and disappeared, his last thought before he was swallowed by the shadows was that Madam Pomfrey was going to be pissed.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cedric heard a bed squeak further down from his own and glanced up. Was that Harry? There was no one else in the Hospital Wing besides the champions and Madam Pomfrey had gone back to her office. He could see Viktor and Fleur still sleeping – the latter having gone back to sleep after Madam Pomfrey checked her over once more – and he knew Harry was lying behind the partition that Madam Pomfrey had set up, mostly as a barrier between himself and Harry, well, that and to make sure that Harry couldn’t escape without moving the partition, which would set off an alarm in Madam Pomfrey’s office. 

Cedric thought that this was a bit excessive, considering there was also an alarm on the only entrance and exit to the Hospital Wing, but he didn’t say anything for fear of Madam Pomfrey kicking him out.

Cedric silently got up from his own bed and crept up to the partition. He didn’t want to give Harry the chance to run. Once he was close enough to touch the barrier, he called out, “Harry?”

He waited but he didn’t hear anything, had he imagined it?

“Harry, you awake?” Cedric called again, this time he heard shuffling and he reached out to move the partition, not caring if he alerted Madam Pomfrey. He blinked as he saw the empty bed with the blanket hanging half off, covering the space under the bed.

He frowned, “Harry?” He removed the blanket and blinked as he saw the empty space. He looked around, where had Harry gone? _How_ had he gone? He was sure he hadn’t missed him. Pulling out his wand, he quickly cast, “ _Homenum Revelio_.”

“Mister Diggory! What did I tell you about waking Mister Potter?” Madam Pomfrey came up behind him, hands on her hips.

“I-but-” Cedric stuttered as the results came back from his scan.

“No buts! I will have you wait outside if you cannot control yourself,” Madam Pomfrey said.

“But, Madam Pomfrey, Harry isn’t here!” Cedric said quickly.

Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow at this; when Cedric gestured for her to take a look, she stepped around him to look behind the partition. She frowned at the empty bed, noticing that Harry’s wand and clothes were all gone. She rolled her eyes, “That boy! I swear, next time he’s in here, I’ll tie him down to the bed!”

She turned to face Diggory, “Mister Diggory, did you notice anyone sneaking out?”

Cedric shook his head, still bewildered by the results, “No, I was closest to the door, no one came in, no one went out, it’s like he just vanished, but you can’t apparate inside Hogwarts.”

Madam Pomfrey hummed thoughtfully, “He probably woke up before you did and somehow managed to slip out.”

Cedric frowned, “But I heard the bed creak and when I called out to him, I heard shuffling.”

Just then, a groan sounded from the bed opposite Cedric’s, Krum was waking up.

Madam Pomfrey sighed, “Well, there’s nothing to do now. I’ll have to catch him later. You should go back to your dorm, I’m sure your friends would like to make sure that you are all right,” Madam Pomfrey turned, heading back towards the front of the Hospital Wing, “Mister Krum, how do you feel?”

Cedric grumbled under his breath as he turned and made his way out of the Hospital Wing. How had Harry gotten past him? He was sure that Harry had been there when he’d called out to him. Sure, there had been no answer, but he hadn’t expected one from him. Since he’d woken up, not one person had come or gone. He hadn’t let down his guard, he was sure the door hadn’t opened at all. So how had Harry slipped past him?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry reappeared a moment later inside the sixth floor boys bathroom inside one of the cubicles. He had decided it was better if he didn’t appear in the Gryffindor dorms, he wasn’t sure who would see him.

Thankfully, the cubicle was deserted; he quickly stripped off his hospital garments and donned his clothes from last night, grimacing at the stains and blood that caked the pants and jacket, making parts of the cloth stiff. He decided to forego wearing the jacket, opting to carry it instead. Thankfully, his jacket had taken the brunt of the damage, leaving his tank top relatively unharmed.

He’d have to get Dobby to wash his clothes, preferably sooner rather than later. He bundled up his pajamas, tucking them inside his jacket, as he stepped out of the cubicle. He didn’t bother glancing at the mirror, he knew he probably looked like hell; instead he made his way out of the bathroom and up the staircases towards Gryffindor Tower. He couldn’t wait to take a shower and change in to fresh clothes. He’d rather have kept the hospital pajamas on, but he knew that if a teacher spotted them on him, he’d be taken right back to the Hospital Wing.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

There was no way he was going to let Harry get away from him. Cedric turned in the opposite direction from the Hufflepuff dormitory and made his way up the grand staircase towards Gryffindor Tower. As a prefect, he knew the location of all the dorms in case of emergencies, and while he may not have the password to get inside, that didn’t mean he couldn’t wait for Harry outside.

Harry would have to come out eventually and Cedric was willing to wait, no matter how long it took.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry sped up as the entrance to Gryffindor Tower came in sight. He hoped it was still early enough that no one would be awake.

“Oh dear, look at you!” The Fat Lady exclaimed as he stopped in front of her portrait, “You look like something the cat dragged in.”

“Is anyone awake?” Harry asked, choosing to ignore the comment on his appearance.

The Fat Lady shook her head, “Everyone is still in their dorms… they were up rather late last night. Best get up there.”

“Thanks. Brutum Fulmen,” Harry said.

The Fat Lady swung open and Harry walked through the portrait hole, not bothering to glance back as the portrait swung shut behind him. He looked around the deserted common room and noted that there were no signs of a party having taken place last night, so they must have been up discussing what had happened in the Great Hall.

He made his way up to the fourth year dorms and quietly opened the door, only his head going inside as he surveyed the room. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he noted most of the curtains being drawn and the sound of Ron’s snoring filled the room, his and Harry’s beds were the only ones with open curtains.

He quietly made his way over to his trunk, intent on getting a shower in before the others woke up. He glanced at Ron’s bed as the other gave a particularly loud snort and rolled over, exposing his neck. Harry froze as his gaze fell on the black mark poking out from underneath red hair. He’d seen a similar mark in Divination, except it had been located near Ron’s ear.

Harry quickly walked over to the redhead’s bed, a glance down at his eyes showed that Ron was still asleep. He hesitated, his hand hovering over Ron’s neck. Should he? Harry bit his lip; it wouldn’t be good if Ron woke up to Harry having his hands in the redhead’s hair.

“ _Tempus_ ,” Harry muttered the spell and glowing numbers appeared over Ron’s head.

7:23, Harry was surprised it was still so early, no wonder everyone was still asleep. He wondered why he’d woken up so early. Usually, he would be right here still sleeping late.

Harry shook his head, he could think on that later; he waved his hand through the numbers, making them disappear. His hand moved as he shifted Ron’s hair, his eyes widening as he saw what appeared to be tattoos on the scalp of his friend’s head. He moved his hand through the red hair, his other hand coming up to part the remaining hair. The tattoos seemed to be in a line from behind his ear, written just inside the hairline, down towards the neck carefully hidden so that it wouldn’t be seen. Wait a minute… Those weren’t… It couldn’t be!

Ron shifted and Harry jumped away from the bed as if he were burned. He collected his things quickly and made a beeline for the bathroom, only just managing not to slam the door. He panted, his back leaning against the door. Those were runes… He was sure of that. Harry bit his lip. Was this why Ron had been acting so jealous all year? There were _runes_ tattooed on the back of Ron’s head! He had to help him!

His words from the Yule Ball echoed in his head.

_~Flashback~_

_"You know, I was going to take him back after some time, even if he did betray me…”_

_~Flashback End~_

It wasn’t easy to let go of Ron, no matter what he’d said or how he’d acted in the Great Hall during their fight. They had been friends since they first boarded the train. Ron was his _first_ friend, his _best_ friend. _Ron_ was the one who’d followed him to save Hermione from the troll, who’d sacrificed himself in that game of chess their first year.

 _Ron_ was the one who’d gone in to the Forbidden Forest with him to “follow the spiders”, despite his immense fear of them. _Ron_ had come down with him to the Chamber in second year, knowing that there was a basilisk down there, and _Ron_ was the one who’d stood between Sirius and Harry in third year when they all thought Sirius was out to kill him.

There was Hermione, too. He knew she missed Ron. He knew she’d gotten over her crush on him, but that didn’t mean she didn’t miss him as a friend. He hadn’t missed the longing glances his friend had given to Ron when she thought neither of them was looking. Whatever had happened between Harry, Ron, and Hermione; they had still been best friends since first year.

_~Flashback~_

_“Harry,” Hermione called him just as he was going up to the dorms.  
_

_He cocked his head, silently asking what she wanted. It was the night of the second task and the party was still going strong, but he wanted to get as much sleep as he could as he was still using the time turner to live out his days twice._

_She waved him down from where he was standing and they both made their way out of the common room. She led him down the corridor from the Fat Lady’s portrait. She waved her wand to put up a silencing charm then sat down, gesturing for him to take a seat beside her._

_“Harry, I-” She stopped, looking away._

_Harry knew what this was going to be about, he’d hoped to put off this discussion until later, but he supposed now was as good a time as any._

_“It’s about Ron, isn’t it?” Harry asked._

_“We’ve been through so much together,” Hermione whispered._

_“I know.”_

_“Won’t you ever forgive him?”_

_Harry sighed, “I forgave him months ago, Hermione, but he just won’t stop. You think I don’t miss him? He was my_ first _friend. My_ best _friend.”_

_“I know,” Hermione said, echoing his words._

_“I don’t know what to do,” Harry admitted, “It’s like his personality did a 180. Sure he was a little jealous before, but…”_

_“But he never went as far as this,” Hermione finished, “Maybe… Maybe this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”_

_Harry snorted, “He knows I don’t like my fame, he knows that if I could, I’d give all my gold for a family, so where did all this other straw come from?”_

_“You know he has an inferiority complex from his brothers, no matter what he does, it wouldn’t matter, it’s all been done before,” Hermione said, “And so he just…took it out on you.”_

_“That’s not an excuse, Hermione.”_

_“I know.”_

_There was silence for a few moments. Harry spoke first._

_“So? What do I do?”_

_Hermione pursed her lips, “You could talk to him.”_

_“And start with what? ‘Hey, Ron, I’ve finally decided that you’ve been punished enough and I want you back as a friend, but see, you’re still a prat, so first we may need to fix your attitude, but after that, we can be friends again!’ Somehow, I don’t think he’ll take that very well,” Harry said dryly._

_Hermione snorted, “Well, think of_ something _! As amazing as Luna is, I_ do _want my friend back. You know, the one that came with you to save me from the troll?”_

_Harry gave a small laugh, “We’ve been in a lot of stupid situations together.”_

_Hermione rolled her eyes, “‘stupid’? More like life threatening. Even the teachers aren’t surprised anymore that we somehow seem to know what’s going on, they just roll their eyes and mutter ‘of course it’s you three’ under their breaths! Mind you, it wasn’t Snape that said this, it was_ McGonagall _!”_

_Harry snickered, “All right, I’ll see what I can do about Ron, but I think you might have more luck.”_

_Hermione shook her head, “I doubt it; I’m just the person who chose you over him.”_

_Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Hermione held up her hand, “I know, he was being a prat, but that’s the way he’ll see it. You’ll have to take the first step.”_

_Harry sighed and nodded, “All right, I’ll see what I can do.”_

_~Flashback End~_

It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried to find a way to strike up a conversation with Ron; he just didn’t know what to say. Every time he thought about approaching him, he couldn’t find any words to say to him. What do you say to the friend that abandoned you in a fit of jealousy?

However, seeing those runes made Harry feel awful. How long had they been there? Hermione was right; he should’ve done something sooner. How long had Ron been under the control of those runes?

After all that Ron had done for Harry, was Ron not allowed a second chance? Was Ron’s jealousy enough cause to break a friendship that had lasted numerous life and death situations over the years? A small voice in the back of Harry’s head said, _‘But what if he turns out like Pettigrew? After all, didn’t your parents trust him? Look where that got them. Those runes could be something entirely different than what you’re thinking of.’_

 _‘But if I fear that my friends will always betray me, then why have them in the first place?’_ Harry argued, _‘that’s no way to live! Not trusting anyone, always lying to the people you are closest to, all in the fear that they_ might _betray me. Ron rescued me from the Dursleys! He knows what they’re like, and yet he doesn’t pity me. Don’t I owe him this much?’_

_‘No, he’s just jealous of your fame!’_

_‘And I’m jealous that he has a family that loves him!’_

The voice finally quieted. Harry looked down at the same hands that were just moments ago buried in Ron’s hair. He shook his head; no, one fit of jealousy over three years of loyalty was not enough to break a friendship, especially now knowing that there was something potentially wrong with Ron.

All these days with the time turner, learning and preparing himself so that he could better protect himself from Dumbledore and Voldemort, he’d forgotten one very important thing. In all of those past life threatening situations, Ron and Hermione had been with him. They had been right there with him, getting past the troll, going to save the philosopher’s stone, saving Ginny, saving Sirius. They needed protecting just as much as he did, because they’d always been there with him. They were just as much a target as he was.

Harry made up his mind; he wasn’t going to let Ron go so easily. It was his turn to apologize, friends don’t give up on each other, and it seemed Ron wasn’t the only horrible friend there was. Harry seemed to be right there with him, but he needed help. Those rune sequences he saw were way above NEWT level, unlike the ones he’d used for the second task.

Harry sighed, he’d have to tell Hermione later on, but for now, he’d better get in to the showers.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Voldemort sat in a high-backed chair, his diary lying open on the desk before him. He was back in his filthy muggle father’s home, holed up in the upstairs study that he had spent so much of his time in when he had been… indisposed. Now he was back, mere hours later, but with a body of his own and a disturbing discovery. A long thin finger caressed the first page of his very first horcrux, letting some of his magic penetrate the pages of the book. 

This was his first step towards immortality. He had come a long way from that small muggleborn from an orphanage, stepped on, mocked, and bullied by the other Purebloods, but now… the Purebloods bowed to him, they suffered under him. A cruel smile appeared on the lipless mouth. _He_ was their Lord. _He_ was their _Master_.

His smile turned to a frown, until that accursed boy! Prophesized to kill _him!_ The greatest dark lord in history! How could it be, a _mere child_ , how dare he have the gall to threaten his horcruxes! That damn brat!

Rage consumed him as he drew his wand and fired off a blasting curse at the door. The door was blasted outwards, showering the person standing at the other end in fragments of wood and metal.

A grin seemed to form on his snake-like face as he watched the man cower before him.

“Crabbe,” Voldemort hissed in pleasure, his eyes still burning in rage. The door had not been responsive enough to satisfy him.

Before Crabbe could so much as take a step back, his body was pulled in to the room. The curse was cast before the Death Eater could get a word out.

Voldemort loomed over the sniveling man, taking pleasure in his screams as he held his wand in one hand, his other hand not leaving the pages of his horcrux. He didn’t seem to notice as he reveled in the moans coming from his servant. The clarity that had penetrated his mind once he took hold of his horcrux was now nowhere to be found.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Violet eyes slowly opened as he felt a rush of magic stir the inky blackness that kept him captive. The magic was just barely familiar to him, twisted as it had become throughout the years. If he were to believe Slytherin’s words, then the form on the outside had made too many horcruxes and with the loss of his soul, lost his sanity as well.

Pink lips pulled down in a frown. Perhaps there was some merit in what Slytherin had told him. This magic was indeed twisted and, a look of disgust passed over his face, weak. Where was the dark power that he possessed? Where was the finely tuned control? This magic… This magic was not his. This magic was harsh, filled with rage and a sense of loss. This magic was out of control.

When his ancestor had first written inside the Diary, telling him of what he was planning to do, he had been mistrustful. There was never anyone who offered to help for free. There was always a motive, always a price. However, this opportunity would not come again. He would be a fool to not take it, and he was anything but a fool.

He closed his eyes, concentrating to pull in the outside magic and mix it with his own. His brow furrowed in concentration as he brought his hand up, opening his eyes, he put his index and middle fingers together and begin drawing runes, _moving_ the darkness around him and leaving fiery runes in its place, all the while chanting:

**“Thou who hath tainteth thy soul,**

You who have tainted my soul,  


**Thou who hath forgotten thy goal,**

You who have forgotten my goal,  


**Shalt now be abolished from thy abode,**

Shall now be abolished from my abode,  


**Replaceth with thyself,**

Replaced with myself.  


**Thy beginneth thine Soul Cycle!”**  
I begin your Soul Cycle!  


With the last rune in place, he placed his hand on the rune and _pushed_ it through the darkness surrounding him. A fire seemed to form around him and a scream ripped its way out of his throat.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Salazar’s eyebrows rose as Harry came stumbling in to the study, out of breath and looking like he ran all the way down from the seventh floor. 

“Dare I ask?”

Harry grimaced, “You’ll find out anyways. I still have to tell you about what happened last night and this,” Harry said, waving a hand toward himself, “will make much more sense after I finish the story.”

Salazar sat back in his chair, “By all means, then.”

Harry slumped in to the chair on the opposite side of the desk after he caught his breath.

“I messed up.”

“Oh?” Salazar didn’t let his worry show on his face. What had happened? Was Hadrian hurt? It didn’t seem like it. Was it the Diary, then? Salazar was expecting a lot of things, but what actually came out of the boy’s mouth, Salazar would never have guessed.

“I took Cedric to the graveyard with me.”

Salazar’s thoughts came to a screeching halt, “The other Hogwarts champion?” he clarified, half convinced he had heard wrong.

Harry nodded, “I couldn’t just leave him and I couldn’t think of a good reason for him to stay behind at the time. We took the cup together,” Harry winced, “Not the smartest decision I’ve made, he could’ve been killed.”

“Then?” Salazar prodded when Harry didn’t say anything more.

Harry shook his head, “Well, I kind of panicked…” He explained the ritual that brought Voldemort back, and what happened once Voldemort called his followers, “And you wouldn’t believe how much he could talk! He just went on and on _and on!_ ”

Salazar was amused, to say the least, as he listened to Harry rant about how Voldemort wouldn’t shut up.

“Although, because he talked for so long, I could complete the runic cage you taught me, so it was somewhat of a good thing,” Harry conceded, “Anyways, so after that…”

Harry explained about how he escaped from the grave, the deal he made, “I did have to tell him that I poured a slow acting poison on the Diadem to get him to not kill me and just take the Diary from my body. Knowing that I had a…hostage,” Harry made a face at that, “stayed his hand. So after I finally convinced him to listen, I made a deal: the diary for information. Of course, the bastard didn’t believe me, so I had to swear an oath that I would give the Diary back to him, so I didn’t manage to keep it. Although, I didn’t think I’d be able to leave with it in the first place, so it wasn’t a big deal…” Harry continued, detailing the rest of the conversation and then the subsequent escape, including the spell aimed at the horcrux just as they were leaving.

 _‘Clever,’_ Salazar thought, _‘He promised to give the diary back, but he never said it would be given back unharmed. It also served as a good distraction, he made sure that Voldemort would be busy protecting his soul piece rather than casting curses at the pair as they portkeyed away.’_

“Then after we arrived, I had to convince Cedric to keep quiet until we could talk to Dumbledore, honestly, at that point I didn’t have much of a plan other than ‘don’t let anyone know’.”

Salazar listened as Harry described Crouch Jr.’s appearance, apparently the Polyjuice potion had worn off in the middle of the Minister’s speech, calling Amelia Bones with the patronus, going to Dumbledore’s office, and using the pensieve to show the stubborn Minister the truth.

“Then once we got out of the office, I was planning to just go to the Hospital Wing so that I could have more time to think about what to do with Cedric when he dragged me to another room…”

And then begin another explanation of how Harry destroyed things, came to terms with what he had to do, tricked Cedric, levitated him back to the Hospital Wing, fell asleep from exhaustion and then made his grand escape to Gryffindor Tower. For some reason, Harry didn’t tell Salazar about the Room of Requirement. Logically, he knew that the Founder should know of the room and its location, but something in his gut told him that he should check the room out properly before letting anyone in on it. There was something familiar about it that he just couldn’t put his finger on.

“And then, I discovered that Ron had runes tattooed on his head, did you know about that?” Harry asked, eyes narrowed.

Salazar raised a brow, unimpressed, “I did tell you something was wrong with him, did I not?”

“Yes, but if you knew there were runes-” Harry started angrily, only to be interrupted.

“I did not.”

Harry paused, “What?”

“I did not know that he had runes on his scalp, he must have gotten them off Hogwarts grounds, perhaps during the summer,” Salazar explained.

“But you just said-” Harry began confused, only to be interrupted again.

“I said that something was off about your friend Ronald because of how he was behaving. His personality seemed different from what Hogwarts showed me of your years together,” Salazar explained patiently.

“But it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that his jealousy got in the way. There’s no way you could have gotten that from the one big fight we had in the beginning of term,” Harry said, disbelief clear in his tone.

Salazar resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “You forget, I see everything that happens inside the walls of Hogwarts, that includes the small spats inside the common rooms and dorms. Also, I see them all in a matter of hours; of course I caught the difference. Having those thoughts and actually acting on them are two different things. True, he was jealous, still seems to be to some degree, but in the three years that you have been friends, why _now_ did he act on those feelings? And do not forget, he has seen you at your worst and he still stands by you. If his loyalties had shifted, there must have been a very good reason, something other than simple jealousy.”

“Oh.”

Harry was stunned; he’d never thought about another reason for the break in their friendship, his friend’s jealousy seemed enough of one. Hadn’t he just been thinking about Ron’s loyalty just hours ago, why hadn’t it occurred to him even before that? He had always just assumed that Ron’s jealousy towards his money and fame was ridiculously strong, but that hadn’t been the case. If it were, their friendship wouldn’t have lasted as long as it had.

Another thought came to Harry’s mind, “Wait, are you telling me, you see _everything_ that goes on inside Hogwarts? Inside each dorm and bathroom?”

 _‘And broom closet?’_ was the unvoiced thought, but by Salazar’s expression, he knew exactly where Harry was going with this.

Salazar raised a brow, he didn’t know whether to be amused or offended at the insinuation, he decided to settle for amused, the little Gryffindor’s expression was so very entertaining, _‘It would be rather interesting to see where this goes,’_ Salazar thought, smirking internally.

“And if I did? What would you do about it?” Salazar leaned forward, a hand lazily propping up his chin. He started gathering his magic around him, shrouding his form. While this did not have a visual effect, as Harry could not see magic, his subconscious would pick up a difference in the air around them, making Salazar seem more intimidating. It was a little trick he’d actually picked up from Rowena.

Harry leaned away from the Founder; he’d expected Salazar to deny it, “Er… Uh, I…”

“Yes?”

Later, Harry would deny being intimidated, but right then, Salazar looked more threatening than he ever had before, and if asked, Harry would say he was completely justified in his hesitance, “It’s…um, kinda – sort of… wrong? I-I mean, it’s a little p-perverted…”

“Is it now?” Salazar asked, his voice low, almost menacing, he slowly released his magic to subtly surround the little Gryffindor, “I repeat, what are _you_ going to **do about it?”**

Harry just barely stopped himself from gulping, had he imagined Salazar’s eyes flashing? Had the temperature just dropped? Did that even happen outside of books and movies? Wait… it… _had_ actually gotten colder. Harry’s eyes widened as he realized Salazar was using his magic to make the temperature drop, “You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?” Harry scowled, quickly losing his nervousness at the thought of Salazar using magic to intimidate him.

Salazar chuckled, leaning back in his chair, “You are very amusing, little Gryffindor.”

Harry huffed, “So, do you actually…?” Harry trailed off awkwardly.

Salazar smirked, “No. The memories that Hogwarts shows me all have to do with you, places you visited, what you did, your conversations, those sorts of things. Sometimes she will show me conversations that are about you, but you, yourself, are not privy to. Things like staff meetings where they discuss how the students are doing or rumors and gossip that is usually spread about. If there is something delicate or indecent that happens, it is…shall we say cut out? I do not see anything that is not meant for my eyes or others. So do not worry your pretty little morally-upstanding head about it.”

Harry huffed, “So… before that was-”

“Merely for my enjoyment.”

Salazar almost laughed as Harry scowled, although to him, it still looked like a pout. Then again, most scowls looked like a pout to him, he’d been on the receiving end of Helga’s scowls a countless number of times before. She was rather protective of that hell rat, especially the times he had tried to use some of it’s parts for potions ingredients. He didn’t understand why she bothered it would regenerate eventually. Most demonic badgers did, after all.

“Although…” Salazar began, his tone taking on a teasing quality, “I seem to recall a certain poem,” he pretended to think, “in your… second year, was it-”

“Yes, yes, can we get back to what we were discussing,” Harry interrupted hurriedly.

Salazar was amused to see the flush on the boy’s cheeks and his almost desperate attempt to avoid the topic. Salazar was tempted to push, but he figured they should finish their discussion, so let it go.

“And then? As I recall, you were breathing rather hard when you got here, nothing you’ve said would explain that,” Salazar said, “And it is nearly half past nine now, what took you so long?”

Harry grimaced, “Well, actually, it seems Cedric didn’t like my disappearing act.”

Salazar raised an eyebrow, a smirk slowly forming on his face, “Don’t tell me, he was waiting for you at the entrance to your common room?”

“I didn’t even see him at first! He nearly managed to catch me, if it weren’t for my seeker skills, I would still be dealing with an angry Hufflepuff right now,” Harry admitted, “It took me a while to shake him, I didn’t want to use too many secret passages in case he saw them and then used them in the future to ambush me again, so he nearly caught me a few times.”

What Harry didn’t say was that if he hadn’t had practice dodging his Uncle, Cousin, and, occasionally, his Aunt, he wouldn’t have outrun the Hufflepuff seeker. While Harry was faster, Cedric had longer legs, and thus, was able to keep up with him, but even then, Harry had the better stamina. Once Harry was out of sight, he was nearly impossible to find again, especially inside Hogwarts. Unfortunately for Harry, there were more students up and about the castle than there should have been that early in the morning and he’d had trouble getting out of sight.

“Well, now that your story is over, I have a few questions,” Salazar said, becoming serious.

“Fire away,” Harry said, he was not looking forward to hearing how he messed up.

“Let’s start with: why did you not obliviate the Diggory boy when he took you to talk?” Salazar said, “If you had, you would’ve been able to avoid all your problems with him.”

“Do I look like someone who knows how to obliviate a person?” Harry asked, “I’ve only seen it done once, and that was with Lockhart using a broken wand.”

“Are you telling me, that you know how to remove memories from your mind but you don’t know how to obliviate someone?”

Harry shrugged, “I saw Dumbledore do it once when I went to visit him, I remembered what he said about how a pensieve works and how you think about the memory you want to examine and take it out with your wand. It seemed simple enough so I just tried to do that and it worked.”

Salazar shook his head in amazement, “You are impossible.”

“Hey, if I messed up and accidentally erased all of Cedric’s memories, who do you think would get blamed for that?” Harry asked rhetorically, “Then they would look into what would be so bad that it needed to be erased and then they would discover my lie. I didn’t want to risk Cedric’s mind if I somehow messed up, or if it failed, then Cedric would know what I tried to do and he’d never trust me again. The oath was the best thing in this situation.”

Salazar didn’t say anything, so Harry continued justifying his actions.

“Also, considering how tired I was when we had that talk, I would be sure to overload the spell, after all, the same thing happened with the _bombarda_ and the _stupefy_ I cast last night.”

Salazar hummed, “So how long are you planning to avoid the boy?”

Harry shrugged, “It’ll be more difficult to avoid him on the train than in the school, but I have my invisibility cloak, so that shouldn’t be a problem, either. I can also hide out in my trunk if need be.”

Salazar blinked… _‘Did Hadrian think…’_

“Hadrian,” Salazar began, “What year is Diggory in?”

Harry blinked at the random question, “Er… seventh year, why?”

Salazar shook his head, “Hadrian, Diggory is in sixth year.”

“B-but he’s 17!”

Salazar raised a brow.

“Do you mean to tell me,” Harry began, “that Cedric was chosen as the Hogwarts Champion out of all of the _seventh_ years when he’s a _sixth_ year?”

Harry’s eyes widened as he realized the implications of what he just said, “It doesn’t matter if I avoid him until the end of this term, he’ll be here next year,” Harry breathed in horror.

Salazar looked at the boy incredulously, “How did you not know this?”

“Well, it’s not like I ever interacted with Cedric much,” Harry said, “I always just assumed that he was a seventh year, wouldn’t it make more sense for a seventh year to be chosen instead of a sixth year?”

Salazar refrained from rolling his eyes, “And yet, you, a fourth year, are more competent than a fifth or even sixth year. You could even say you went head to head with my descendant and won multiple times.”

Harry looked up, “Those times were just luck, and this last time I had the upper hand because of the horcrux. Also, Voldemort wasn’t at his best, you said yourself that because of the horcruxes he went insane,” Harry pointed out, “If he’s this powerful _now_ , I can’t even imagine how much more powerful he’d be with his mind intact,” Harry’s eyes widened as the full implications of what he’d just done hit him, “and I just delivered Voldemort one of his horcruxes!”

Harry put his head in his hands.

“It was a calculated risk,” Salazar began, deciding not to point out the fact that Hadrian had just given Voldemort, not just any horcrux, but his most powerful one, “You lost a horcrux, but you still have two more in your possession and now you also have information, the kind that you could not have found out without Voldemort telling you. Also, just because he has the diary back, does not mean that he will merge with it, so it does not matter much in the long run.”

Harry sighed, “I suppose… I still don’t like it, though.”

Salazar nodded; after a few moments, he spoke again, “You did well, you know.”

Harry looked at him in surprise.

“All things considered, you may have panicked a little, but I suppose everything went according to plan. You got the information you wanted and you’ve gained a rather troublesome tag along, but overall, you are safe and you have proved that Voldemort is back. Enjoy your victory while it lasts.”

Harry smiled grimly. Why did he have the feeling that things were about to get much worse?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry cautiously opened the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy, just enough to peek out in to the corridor. He once again cursed himself for not thinking to bring his invisibility cloak and map. He’d been out of the portrait hole when Cedric had surprised him and it had been too late to go back inside.

Seeing the empty corridor, he was about to step out from behind the portrait, when he heard his name being called.

“Harry?”

He looked around only to see Hermione right in front of him; she’d just turned the corner and saw him as he was opening the portrait to step out.

“H-Hermione? What are you doing here?” Harry asked as he hurried to close the portrait behind him, but before he could, another voice rang out.

“Hadrian, I forgot to mention-” The voice stopped, apparently just noticing Hermione standing before him, “Well, hello there.”

Hermione’s eyes were wide as she took in the ghost coming out from behind Harry, who had apparently just come out from behind the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy. Which had to be impossible, as there were no secret passages behind that particular portrait.

“I-I can explain,” Harry said quickly, but Hermione’s eyes weren’t on him, rather they were fixed on Salazar, who was now floating in plain view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Apparently coined by the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, a brutum fulmen is a harmless or empty threat. It literally means "senseless thunderbolt".
> 
> Emerald: Hey guys! It’s been a while, you know, if it takes me a year to write a single chapter, this story is never going to get finished. Well, at least the chapters are long *laughs nervously*. 
> 
> Well, Ron’s secret has finally been revealed! Technically speaking, I know that sometimes emotions are strong enough to break relationships, but Harry and Ron have been friends for 3+ years now, and Ron was there to break Harry out from the Dursleys when they imprisoned him in his room, so sure, he would’ve been mad a little that Harry got chosen and he didn’t, but I don’t think it would cause that big of a rift like it does in the books. Yes, I know they got back together after the first task, but it took more than a month for them to make up again.
> 
> I wonder if anyone took notice of the Room of Requirement before this chapter. There’s a pretty big hint in one of the earlier chapters that it’s important, and not just for where the Diadem was hidden.
> 
> Thank you everyone for sticking with me. I know I take a ridiculously long time to update, but I swear, I do have my reasons. I absolutely suck at managing my time properly. Thank you for commenting/subscribing/bookmarking and leaving kudos! I love you all!!!


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